ORANGEBURG, S.C.- Brevin Smith's second inning grand slam propelled Savannah State to a 18-3 non-conference victory over Claflin on Tuesday afternoon at Historic Mirmow Field.

Smith also did damage on the mound, pitching five innings and recording five strikeouts while giving up two hits and one run.

Although they left ten runners on base, the Tigers collected 15 hits in the contest.

Smith was hit by a pitch in the first inning and a triple down the left field line by Johan Sandoval allowed Smith to score for a 1-0 lead.

In the second inning, Addrian McNeal Jr reached base thanks to a throwing error by the shortstop and scored on a single to leftfield by William Mahoney IV. Reginald Tuggle hit a double down the left field line and Kendal Spencer drew a walk to load the bases for Smith who hit his home run over the left centerfield fence for a 6-0 advantage.

The Tigers added four more runs in the top of the third.

Farah Castillo walked, McNeal was hit by a pitch and Chandler Hicks hit a single to right field to load the bases for Mahoney who hit a single up the middle that scored Castillo and McNeal. A groundout by Julian Grier brought home Hicks to make the score 9-0. Tuggle reached base on a fielder's choice and a single to left field by Spencer allowed Tuggle to score SSU's 10th run.

Claflin scored their first run in the bottom of the fourth but Savannah State responded with a pair of runs in the fifth.

Mahoney singled and Grier hit a double to put runners in scoring position. A sacrifice fly by Tuggle allowed Mahoney to cross home plate and back-to-back walks to Spencer and Smith loaded the bases for Sandoval who reached base on an error by the second baseman which allowed Grier to score.

The Panthers scored their second run in the sixth but in the seventh Spencer hit an RBI triple and later scored to give SSU a 12-2 lead.

Zachary Turner led off the eighth with a single and Jan'i Belcher was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second for Gavin Jusino who hit a single through the left side of the infield that allowed Turner and Belcher to score. Malik Price drew a walk and stole second and a groundout by Tuggle allowed Jusino to score and Price followed by scoring on a wild pitch for a 18-2 cushion.

Claflin added a run in the bottom of the eighth for the last run of the day.

Tuggle and Spencer both had two hits, two runs and two RBI, Smith scored twice and had four RBI, Sandoval had two RBI, McNeal and Price scored twice and Mahoney finished with three hits, three RBI and two runs.

Kijani Clarington, Evan Kehren, Giovante Tomlins and Austin McCormack all saw action on the mound for the Tigers.

Clarington pitched one inning and had one strikeout, Kehren pitched one inning and struck out the side in the seventh inning, Tomlins pitched two-thirds of an inning and McCormack pitched 1.1 innings and recorded one strikeout.

Savannah State (14-6, 12-3 SIAC) will return to conference play on March 21-22 when they host Edward Waters for a three-game series at Tiger Field.

Stay Connected
For complete coverage of Savannah State University Athletics, follow the Tigers on social media @SavStateTigers on Facebook, Instagram, and X (Formerly Known As Twitter), or visit the official online home of SSU Athletics at http://ssuathletics.com.