ORLANDO, Fla. – The Savannah State University softball team (3-3) dropped both games Friday to begin the Citrus Classic Friday at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Disney World.
ORLANDO, Fla. – The Savannah State University softball team (3-3) dropped both games Friday to begin the Citrus Classic Friday at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Disney World.
 
The Lady Tigers fell to Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opponent Morgan State (3-4) 12-4 in five innings in the first game in a non-conference game and fell to Lehigh University (1-1) 7-1.
 
Senior center fielder Brianna Harris led the team batting .600 (3-for-5) with a run scored in both games, while sophomore pitcher Hannah Deckle batted .667 (2-for-3) with an RBI and a double.
 
Morgan State 12, Savannah State 4
Harris led the team going 2-for-2 at the plate, while junior first baseman Elizabeth Humes went 1-for-2 with a run scored and three RBIs with a homerun.  On the mound, senior pitcher Amanda Hallman (2-2) picked up the loss pitching the 2.2 innings giving up 10 runs, six earned, on nine hits.
 
Savannah State scored the first three runs of the game in the top of the first inning for a 3-0 lead after a three-run homerun by Humes with two outs.
 
The Lady Tigers added another run in the top of the second inning for a 4-0 lead, after a three-base error on a sacrifice bunt that allowed senior shortstop Drea Lesure to score.
 
But it was all Morgan State after that, scoring the final 12 runs of the game.  The Bears scored five runs in the bottom of the second inning to take a 5-4 lead after two errors allowed two Bears to score, a two-run RBI double to center field and an RBI single.
 
The Bears scored another five runs in the bottom of the third inning to increase the lead to 10-4 after an RBI single, an RBI groundout, a two-run single and a wild pitch.
 
Morgan State added the two final runs in the bottom of the fifth inning after two RBI singles to win the game.   
 
The Bears were led by Damali Young going 3-for-4 with three runs scored, Gabriella Gorosave going 3-for-4 with three RBIs, while Amy Begg (2-4) picked up the win in a complete game giving up four earned runs on four hits. 
 
Lehigh 7, Savannah State 1
Deckle recorded 2-for-2 with one RBI, while Harris went 1-for-3.  Junior pitcher Faith Dickerson (0-1) picked up the loss pitching the first three innings giving up seven runs, five earned runs, on seven hits, while Deckle pitched the last four shutouts scattering four hits. 
 
Lehigh started off the game scoring two runs in the top of the first inning to take a 2-0 lead after the first after two sacrifice flies.  The Mountain Hawks scored three more runs in the top of the second inning for a 5-0 lead after an RBI double and two bunts that allowed to Mountain Hawks to score.
 
Lehigh scored the final two runs of the game in the top of the fourth inning for the seven run win after an RBI triple, followed by an RBI single.
 
The Lady Tigers got on the board in the bottom of the sixth inning after an RBI single to score junior left fielder Peyton Mitchell.
 
The Mountain Hawks were led by Mary-Hannah Smith, Hannah Edwards and Emily Preble with two hits each, while on the mound Emily Sorem (1-0) pitched a complete game giving up one earned run on three hits.
 
Day two of the classic continues Saturday with two games against Duke University at 10 a.m. and Purdue University at 3 p.m., followed by a single game Sunday against Czech Republic at 11:30 a.m.
 
Morgan State 12, Savannah State 4 (Feb 23, 2018 at Orlando, Fla.)
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Savannah State...... 310 00 -  4  4  5      (3-2)
Morgan State........ 055 02 - 12 12  1      (3-4)
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Pitchers: Savannah State - HALLMAN, Amanda; DECKLE, Hannah(3) and CYRUS, Kelsey. Morgan State -
BEGG,Amy and MORALES,Anissa.
Win-BEGG,Amy(2-4)  Loss-HALLMAN, Amanda(2-2)  T-1:53  A-39
HR SSUSB - HUMES, Elizabeth.
Weather: 76, sunny, wind: E@9mph
 
Lehigh 7, Savannah State 1 (Feb 23, 2018 at Orlando, Fla.)
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Lehigh.............. 230 200 0 -  7 11  0      (1-1)
Savannah State...... 000 001 0 -  1  3  2      (3-3)
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Pitchers: Lehigh - Sorem, Emily and Preble, Emily. Savannah State - DICKERSON, Faith;
DECKLE, Hannah(4) and CYRUS, Kelsey.
Win-Sorem, Emily(1-0)  Loss-DICKERSON, Faith(0-1)  T-2:14  A-36
Weather: 82, sunny, wind: N@6mph
DICKERSON, F faced 3 batters in the 4th.
 
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