CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Benedict College softball team pushed across two runs in the first inning and made those hold up to take a 2-1 victory over Johnson C. Smith University on Tuesday in the first game of a doubleheader.

In the second game, Johnson C. Smith rallied from a 7-2 deficit to top Benedict 8-7 in a game that was called due to darkness when a timer operating the lights turned off with the Lady Tigers batting in the top of the seventh inning for their first victory of the season.

In the first game, Victoria Bratton led off the game by reaching on an error. With two outs, Ruth Simms reached on an error, which allowed Bratton and BerGearia Major to score.

The Lady Tigers had runners on first and second with no outs in the third inning, but did not capitalize and came out of the inning empty handed.

Bratton was 4-for-4 in the game. LeKeeya Ramsey went the distance in the circle, giving up one run and striking out eight.

In the second game, Johnson C. Smith jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning, but Benedict put three runs across the plate in the second and third, with another run in the fourth for a 7-2 lead.

In the second, four consecutive walks by Johnson C. Smith Ashton Byrd pitcher allowed Ramsey to score. Simms scored after an error and Cecelia Lykes hit a sacrifice fly to score Dyketia Gregg.

Gregg had a three-run homer in the third inning.  Ramsey had an RBI in the fourth for a 7-2 Benedict lead.

Johnson C. Smith came back with three runs in the bottom of the fourth, thanks to a two-run triple by Jasmine Jackson. A three-run homer in the fifth inning by Jena Serranzanga put the Lady Golden Bulls ahead 8-7.

Benedict did not get a chance to bat in the top of the seventh due to the lighting issues.

The Lady Tigers are now 4-5 on the season. Benedict returns to action Thursday against South Carolina State in Orangeburg. The first game is set for 2 p.m.