MACON, Ga.- Savannah State led #1 seed Spring Hill 4-3 after five innings of play but could not maintain their lead, in a 9-4 loss to the Badgers on Saturday night in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament at Luther Williams Field.
The loss drops Savannah State, the #3 seed, into the elimination bracket where they will face #6 Benedict on Sunday at 12 noon.
The setback also ends the Tigers seven game winning streak.
In the contest with Spring Hill, both teams made two errors while the Badgers had eight hits and stranded 13 runners on base and SSU collected seven hits and left nine runners on base.
With two outs in the top of the second inning,
Tyler Tucker and
Kijani Clarington drew back-to-back walks and
Jason Ramos reached base on a fielder's choice to load the bases for
Julian Grier who was hit by a pitch which allowed Tucker to come home for the first run of the game. SSU went ahead 2-0 when
Seth Stargell hit a single that allowed Clarington to score.
Spring Hill left the bases loaded in the third and scored three times to go in front, 3-2.
Stargell drew a walk in the fifth and scored when
Johan Sandoval hit a 2-1 pitch over the left field fence to give the Tigers a 4-3 edge. It was Sandoval's second home run of the tournament.
The remainder of the game belonged to Spring Hill as they scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth and they added a solo home run in the eighth.
Tucker went 3-for-3 at the plate for Savannah State and scored a run and Sandoval had two hits, two RBI, scored a run and stole a base.
Gregorio Gonzalez was the losing pitcher. Gonzalez pitched 5.2 innings and gave up seven hits, eight runs and eight walks while striking out three.
Giovante Tomlins pitched 2.1 innings in relief and surrendered one hit, one run and two walks while recording four strikeouts.
Savannah State (27-19) won their regular season series with Benedict, 2-1 in mid-March.
SSU opened the series splitting a doubleheader on March 14, winning the opener 17-2 and losing the second game 6-3, before winning the rubber game on March 15 with a score of 9-5.
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