ORMOND BEACH, Fla. – Amber Hallman drove in seven runs and hit a key three-run home run in the top of the seventh to lead Savannah State to a 10-6 win over the Norfolk State softball team Thursday afternoon in the first round of the MEAC tournament at the Ormond Beach Sports Complex.
NSU will play Coppin State at 4:30 later in the day in the loser’s bracket.
Hallman smacked a three-run double in a four-run fifth and then put the nail in the coffin in the seventh with a three-run bomb to left field. NSU (26-21) entered the seventh with a 6-5 lead, but Hallman’s homer and a two-run shot by Madison Hedderly later in the inning put the Spartans in too big of a hole.
Hedderly got the win for Savannah State (25-22), giving up six runs, four earned, on 13 hits to run her overall record to 19-9.
Freshman Heather Dunning went 4-for-4 for the Spartans and drove in a pair of runs, while sophomore Alina Moriarty hit a two-run double in the sixth to give NSU a 6-5 lead heading into the last inning.
Savannah State, though, scored first, plating a run in the top of the first inning. Patton singled to open the frame, took second after the play when the Spartan infield lost track of her and later came home on a sac fly.
The Spartans made it 2-1 in the second. Junior Melina Valles walked, and senior Gipsy Ramirez immediately followed with a single past the shortstop’s glove. After both players moved up a base on a wild pitch, Dunning dropped one into the gap in left center to score both.
The Tigers took the lead back in the fifth when Patton hit a bases-loaded single into left field and Hallman followed with a bases-clearing double to the base of the wall in left center.
NSU got two runs back in bottom of the inning, though. Freshman Whitney Williams, who went 3-for-4 in the game, singled into right, and sophomore Haley Ward reached base when the right fielder misplayed the ball while backpedaling. Junior Kathy Cortez hit a sacrifice fly for one run, and with Ward on third, Valles lined one off Hedderly’s leg for an infield hit.
The Spartans then went back up in the sixth. Junior Morgan Boyd and Dunning reached on bunt singles, and Moriarty doubled both home with a shot over the center fielder’s head.
Jamie Schulle (16-12) suffered the loss for NSU, giving up 10 runs, five earned, on 10 hits in 6.1 innings of work.
Ramirez had two hits for the Spartans. Moriarty set the all-time Division I record for RBI in a season with 48, while Ward set the all-time program record (both D-I and D-II) for doubles with her 18th two-bagger of the year.