COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Benedict College softball team dropped a pair of one-run games against cross-town rival Columbia College on Friday afternoon.
Columbia College rallied from a 3-1 deficit, and then held off a late Benedict rally, to take a 7-6 victory in the first game. Columbia College won a defensive battle in the second game, 2-1.
Benedict fell to 0-4 on the season. Columbia was playing its season opener and improved to 2-0.
The Lady Tigers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning of the first game.
Tandreanna Conyers hit a bases-loaded single.
Sharik Woods followed with a fielder's choice to bring home
Erika Dargan.
The Koalas cut the lead to 2-1 with a run in the bottom of the first. The Lady Tigers added a run in the third inning when
Asia Moore singled and
Kelsey James doubled to center field to score Moore.
Columbia College exploded for five runs on four hits and one Benedict error in the fifth inning to take a 6-3 lead. The Koalas added another run in the sixth for a 7-3 lead. Dargan reached on an error to lead off the seventh inning. Moore followed with an RBI double to center field.
Kelsey James walked. After Moore stole third, she scored on a wild pitch. Woods hit a one-out single to score James and cut the lead to 7-6. A ground-out and a single advanced Woods to third base with the tying run, but a groundout ended the game.
Columbia scored one run in the first and another in the fifth for a 2-0 lead in the second game. Benedict scored a run in the sixth inning when
Torcealon Kelly reached on a bunt single, advanced to third on a single by Dargan and came home on a sacrifice fly by Moore.
Benedict threatened to tie the score in the seventh, putting runners on first and second before a fly out ended the game.
Benedict is back in action on Tuesday, traveling to face Fayetteville State.
