ORMOND BEACH, Fla. – The No. 3 seed Savannah State University softball team (14-21) started the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Championship with a 9-3 win over No. 2 seed Hampton University (22-27) Wednesday at Ormond Beach Sports Complex.
The Lady Tigers face No. 1 seed Bethune-Cookman University, who defeated No. 4 seed Coppin State University 4-1, Thursday at 3 p.m.
Senior pitcher Amanda Hallman went 2-for-3 with five RBIs at the plate and on the mound, the Kennesaw, Ga., native pitched a complete game giving up two earned runs on nine hits with six strikeouts.
Junior third baseman Cortni Jones went 2-for-3 with three runs scored, while senior center fielder Brianna Harris went 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
Savannah State started the game with two runs in the top of the first inning to take a 2-0 lead. Senior right fielder Shelby Eccles started off with a walk and after a sacrifice bunt to move Eccles to second and a strikeout for the second out of the inning, Jones and junior first baseman Elizabeth Humes walked to load the bases.
Hallman delivered with a two-run single to left field to drive home Eccles and Jones, but a groundout to the shortstop ended the inning.
Hampton cut the lead in half, 2-1, in the bottom of the fifth inning after an RBI single, but the Lady Tigers scored three runs in the sixth inning to increase the lead to 5-1.
Harris started the sixth inning with a single down the left field line and stole second and Jones singled and Humes walked to load the bases with no outs. Hallman walked home Harris for a 3-1 lead and sophomore left fielder Shayna Byers singled to right field to drive home Jones for a 4-1 lead.
After a Hampton pitching change, a pop out to the first baseman and a strikeout recorded the first two outs of the inning, but an error by the third baseman extended the inning and drive home Humes for a 5-1 lead, but a groundout ended the inning.
Savannah State scored four runs in the seventh inning to capture a 9-1 lead. Harris started the inning with a walk and Jones singled to left center and Humes hit an infield single to third base to load the base with no outs. Hallman hit an infield single to drive home Harris and Jones for a 7-1 lead and Byers reached on an error to load the bases.
A strikeout recorded the first out of the inning and a fielder's choice and an error allowed Humes to score for an 8-1 lead. Eccles singled to center field to drive home freshman pinch runner Kameryn Baker for a 9-1 lead, but back-to-back pop outs to the pitcher ended the inning.
Hampton tried to mount a comeback in the bottom half of the inning, but scored two runs to cut the final deficit to six runs after a solo home run to center field and an RBI single up the middle.
The Pirates were led by Alana VanDenburg going 3-for-4 with two RBIs, while DaSha Hill went 3-for-4 with two runs scored. On the mound, Allyson Babinsack (12-15) pitched the first five innings giving up five runs and four earned runs on five hits, while Allie Hotetz pitched the final two runs giving up four runs, two earned runs.