COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Benedict College Lady Tigers swept a key conference doubleheader over Fort Valley State on Monday afternoon at Tiger Field.
Marshallnae Bell hit a grand slam and earned the pitching victory in a 14-6 victory in the first game.
Starkeira Daniel had a homer and a triple and drove in three runs, and
Taylor Roberts earned the pitching victory in a 10-2 victory in the second game.
Benedict and Fort Valley State entered the three-game conference series with Benedict holding a slight lead in the conference standings. After Monday's sweep, Benedict is now 18-17 overall and 11-6 in the SIAC. Fort Valley falls to 11-17 overall and 7-7 in the SIAC.
The Wildcats jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first game, scoring all six runs in the second inning on four hits and a pair of Benedict errors. The Lady Tigers scored five runs in the top of the third, getting a two-run single by Daniel and scoring the next three runs on FVSU errors.
Benedict took the lead in the fourth, getting an RBI double by Bell and an RBI triple by
Ericka Young.
The Lady Tigers put the game away in the fifth inning when Bell smashed a bases-loaded homer to right-center field. Young followed with a walk-off solo homer for a 14-6 lead to end the game in the fifth inning.
In the second game, Benedict struck first with two runs in the first inning on a pair of hits and a FVSU error. The Wildcats tied the game in the second with two runs. The Lady Tigers took control by scoring five runs on just one hit and two FVSU errors in the third inning. The only hit of the inning was Daniel's two-run homer. Benedict made it 8-2 in the fifth when Daniel hit a lead-off triple and came home on a groundout by
Erika Dargan.
A walk, a single by
Amari Lawson and an error loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth for the Lady Tigers.
Miyah Rogers brought home one run on a fielder's choice, and
Zanila Booker hit a walk-off single up the middle to end the game at 10-2.
Benedict and Fort Valley State will wrap up their conference series with a single game on Tuesday at 1 p.m.
