COLUMBIA, S.C.- Jayla Givens hit a grand slam home run to help Savannah State to a 10-0 win over Allen in the second game of a doubleheader on Friday afternoon at MLK Park.
Savannah State won the first game 5-2 with
Madison Starling-Martin driving in two runs.
The 10-0 shutout was the fourth time this season that the Lady Tigers kept an opponent from scoring.
SSU scored a run in the top of the second inning in the second game when
Phaedra Smith led off with a single to left field and scored on a groundout by Starling-Martin.
Ansley Hudson hit a single to left field and scored on a sacrifice fly by
Kennedy Alsbrook in the third for a 2-0 advantage.
In the top of the fourth,
Milani Dunning hit a single, Hudson was hit by a pitch and
Neveah Ford drew a walk to load the bases for Givens who hit her grand slam over the left field fence to give SSU a 6-0 lead.
After a scoreless fifth inning, the Lady Tigers added four more runs in the top of the sixth.
Hudson hit a double to center field and Ford hit a single to the short stop. Following a strikeout by Givens, Hudson scored on a wild pitch and a double to right field by Alsbrook sent Ford home. After
Morgan Cole was hit by a pitch,
Shamiya Raines hit a double to right field by brought home
Zorianna Ford, who was running for Alsbrook, and Cole for the final runs of the day.
Givens had four RBI, Raines had two hits and two RBI and Alsbrook had two RBI. Hudson and
Neveah Ford both had two hits with Hudson scoring three times and
Neveah Ford crossing home plate twice.
Donnea Allen hurled a two hitter and recorded 11 strikeouts to earn the win.
In the first game, the Yellow Jackets scored a run in the first inning for the early lead, but SSU went ahead 3-1 with a pair of runs in the second inning and another in the top of the third.
In the second inning, Smith drew a walk and scored when Starling-Martin hit a double to right field and a single by
Zorianna Ford allowed Starling-Martin to find home plate.
Givens drew a walk in the third and
Ambria Guye was hit by a pitch.
Ariana Battle drew a walk, and a wild pitch allowed Givens to score.
Allen cut their deficit to 3-2 with a run in the bottom of the third but, Savannah State scored twice more with a run in the fourth and fifth innings.
Jayla Alexander hit an RBI single that scored Hudson in the fourth while
Neveah Ford walked, stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a wild pitch in the fifth that stretch the SSU margin to 5-2.
Starling-Martin had a pair of doubles for SSU while
Aaliyah Martin and
Donnea Allen combined to hold Allen to five hits and two runs.
Martin pitched four innings and gave up four hits and two runs while striking out one. Allen struck out four while surrendering one hit and no runs in her three innings to collect the save.
Savannah State (19-12, 10-7 SIAC) will look to complete the series sweep on Saturday at 1 p.m.
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.
