SAVANNAH, Ga. – The Savannah State University softball team (8-17) dropped the doubleheader to Charleston Southern University (24-17) Thursday at Lady Tiger Softball Field.
 
The Lady Tigers fell to CSU 5-1 in game one, but in game two Savannah State was trailing the Buccaneers 7-3, but the Lady Tigers battled back to pull within two runs, 9-7, heading to the bottom of the seventh inning.  With two outs and runners on second and third, senior shortstop Brianna Harris hit an infield single to drive home junior catcher Kelsey Cyrus to pull within a run, but the trail runner also tried to score, but was thrown out at home to end the game.
 
Cyrus and freshman second baseman Kameryn Baker each batted .750 (3-for-4) with two doubles and two runs scored, while senior center fielder Shelby Eccles batted .444 (4-for-9) with three runs scored, a triple and an RBI and sophomore Shayna Byers batted .400 (2-for-5) with a run scored and an RBI.
 
Charleston Southern 5, Savannah State 1 (Game One)
Eccles recorded two of the four hits in the game and scored the only run for the Lady Tigers, while senior center fielder Brianna Harris recorded the only RBI for SSU.  On the mound, junior pitcher Faith Dickerson (0-7) picked up the loss pitching the first five innings giving up five runs, one earned, on six hits with five strikeouts.
 
Charleston Southern broke a scoreless game in the top of the third inning with two runs to take a 2-0 lead after an error and a wild pitch scored two Buccaneers and scored three runs in the fifth inning to take a 5-0 lead after an error allowed a run scored and a two-run home run off the foul pole.
 
The Lady Tigers scored the only run in the bottom of the fifth inning after Harris reached on base after an error by the pitcher to allow Eccles to score to cut to the final deficit of four runs.
 
The Buccaneers were led by Taylor Gleason going 2-for-2, while Nina Del Rio went 1-for-1 with a two-run home run.  On the mound, Holly Clark (7-5) picked up the win pitching the first five innings giving up one run on three hits.   
 
Charleston Southern 9, Savannah State 8 (Game Two)
Baker went 3-for-4 with an RBI, while Cyrus went 2-for-2 with two runs scored, junior Elizabeth Humes went 2-for-4 with an RBI and Eccles went 2-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI.  On the mound, freshman pitcher Tanisha Williams (2-2) picked up the loss pitching the first four innings giving up seven runs on five hits.
 
Savannah State got on the board first with a run in the bottom of the first inning after Eccles scored on an error by the first baseman's throw to third base to take a 1-0 lead.
 
Charleston Southern scored two runs in the second inning to take a 2-1 lead after a two-run double and scored four runs in the third inning to take a 6-1 lead after an RBI walk, a two-run single and a wild pitch to score a run.
 
The Lady Tigers started to come back with two runs in the bottom half of the inning after Byers singeld to right field to drive home Eccles to cut the lead to 6-2 and Humes doubled to center field to drive home Byers to cut the lead to 6-3, but after a walk, a fly out to center field ended the inning.
 
CSU scored a run in the fourth inning to increase the lead to 7-3 after a solo home run to start the inning, but the Lady Tigers scored two runs in the bottom half of the inning after Baker singled through the left side to drive home Cyrus to cut the lead to 7-4 and Harris hit a sacrifice fly to center field to drive home junior right fielder Peyton Mitchell to cut the lead to 7-5, but a strikeout with the bases loaded ended the inning.
 
Charleston Southern scored another run in the fifth inning to take an 8-5 lead after two errors allowed a run to score, but Savannah State scored two runs in the bottom half of the inning after junior third baseman Cortni Jones started the inning with a home run down the left field line to cut the lead to 8-6 and Eccles singled to right field to score Mitchell to cut the lead to 8-7, but a fly out to center field with two runners on, ended the inning.
 
CSU scored another run in the top of the seventh inning to increase the lead to 9-7 after a Buccaneer stole home leaving the Lady Tigers to attempt a comeback in the bottom of the seventh inning.
 
Cyrus started the inning with a double down the left field line and after a strikeout, Baker singled down the left field line after the ball hit the shortstop's glove.  A groundout to second base advanced Cyrus to third and Baker to second with two outs, but Harris hit an infield single to drive home Cyrus and Baker was thrown out at home to end the game.
 
The Buccaneers were led by Jade Gandara and Annie Bakenhus going 2-for-4, while Bakenhus added two RBIs and Laina Holmgren went 2-for-3 with two RBIs.  On the mound, Emily Visnic (2-3) picked up the win pitching the first four innings giving up five runs, three earned, on seven hits and Alyssa Heinrich pitched the final 2.2 innings picking up the save giving up one run on three hits.
 
The Lady Tigers continue the eight game homestand hosting Florida A&M University next weekend from April 14-15 with a doubleheader Saturday starting at 1 p.m. and a single-game Sunday at noon at Lady Tiger Softball Field.
 
 
Charleston Southern 5, Savannah State 1 (Apr 05, 2018 at Savannah, Ga.) (Game 1)
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Charleston Southern. 002 030 0 -  5  8  1      (23-17)
Savannah State...... 000 010 0 -  1  4  6      (8-16)
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Pitchers: Charleston Southern - CLARK, Holly; HEINRICH, Alyssa(6) and KASINGER, Mallory.
Savannah State - DICKERSON, Faith; HALLMAN, Amanda(6) and CYRUS, Kelsey; MITCHELL, Peyton.
Win-CLARK, Holly(7-5)  Loss-DICKERSON, Faith(0-7)  T-2:10  A-64
HR CSU - DEL RIO, Nina (6).
Weather: 62, sunny, wind: NE@10mph
 
Charleston Southern 9, Savannah State 8 (Apr 05, 2018 at Savannah, Ga.) (Game 2)
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Charleston Southern. 024 110 1 -  9 10  2      (24-17)
Savannah State...... 102 220 1 -  8 13  2      (8-17)
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Pitchers: Charleston Southern - VISNIC, Emily; PILGRIM, Arizona(5); HEINRICH, Alyssa(5) and
EMBERSON, Caitlyn. Savannah State - WILLIAMS, Tanisha; DECKLE, Hannah(5) and CYRUS, Kelsey.
Win-VISNIC, Emily(2-3)  Save-HEINRICH, Alyssa(2)  Loss-WILLIAMS, Tanisha(2-2)  T-2:23  A-53
HR CSU - EMBERSON, Caitlyn.
HR SSUSB - JONES, Cortni.
Weather: 66, sunny, wind: E@9mph
 
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