SAVANNAH, Ga.- Savannah State won their weekend series with Fort Valley State, thanks to a doubleheader split on Saturday afternoon at the SSU Softball Field.
The Lady Tigers dominated the opener 9-1 before falling 5-3 in the second game.
SSU scored in all five innings in the first game, finishing the rout with ten hits.
A double by
Ambria Guye scored
Jayla Alexander in the first inning and a bases loaded walk to
Milani Dunning brought home
Madison Starling-Martin in the bottom of the second for a 2-1 lead.
Neveah Ford scored a run in the third after a single to centerfield by Starling-Martin to give SSU a 3-1 advantage.
Savannah State left two runners on base in the fourth but were able to score four times.
Dunning and Alexander both hit singles and after Guye struck out swinging, Dunning was able to score a run.
Jayla Givens drew a walk and when Ford reached base because of an error by the first baseman, Alexander scored. A walk to Starling-Martin loaded the bases for
Phaedra Smith who delivered a two-run single to right field that brought home Given and Ford to make the score 7-1.
The Lady Tigers added a pair of runs in the fifth when Ford and Starling-Martin both hit RBI singles that scored Alexander and
Tamia Aldridge respectively.
Ford ended the game with two hits, two RBI, two runs and two steals while Starling-Martin had two hits and two RBI. Alexander scored three runs and Smith drove in two runs.
Aaliyah Martin pitched all five innings and limited the Wildcats to just four hits while recording two strikeouts.
Savannah State was only able to collect seven hits in the second game.
After FVSU took a 2-0 in the top of the first, Alexander hit a RBI single to center field that scored Givens to slice their deficit to 2-1 in the bottom of the first inning.
A RBI double by Alexander that scored
Morgan Cole in the third tied the game at 2-2 but Fort Valley State scored twice in the top of the fourth to go back in front 4-2.
SSU got one of the runs back in the bottom of the fourth .
Starling-Martin led off with a single to right field and was replaced with
Ansley Hudson as a pinch runner. Hudson advanced to second on a wild pitch, made her way to third base when Ford grounded out and scored when Smith reached base on an error by the short stop.
FVSU scored the final run of the game in the sixth.
Alexander had two hits and two RBI for Savannah State while
Donnea Allen was tagged with the loss, despite recording five strikeouts.
SSU (17-12, 8-7 SIAC) will close out the month of March with a three-game road series at Allen on March 27-28.
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.