SALISBURY, N.C. – Shamaria Dupree had three hits and Olivia Townsend drove in a pair of runs as the Benedict College Lady Tigers defeated Livingstone College 6-2 in the first game of a non-conference doubleheader on Wednesday.
 
Livingstone scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to rally for a 6-5 victory in the second game.
 
Townsend drove in two runs with a first-inning single in the first game, and a bases-loaded walk to Kayla Hunt made it 3-0. The Lady Tigers scored three more runs in the second inning as T'yannah Lake and Kiyah Mayes had RBI singles.
 
Benedict jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the second game. A fifth-inning double by Savanna Marshall made it 4-2. The Blue Bears scored a run in the bottom of the fifth and another in the seventh to tie the game at 4-4.
 
The Lady Tigers pushed across a run in the eighth as Heaven Strickland drew a bases-loaded walk to put Benedict back in the lead, 5-4. Livingstone got a two-out double to tie the game and scored the winning run on a single.
 
The Lady Tigers, now 9-24 overall, play a three-game SIAC series against Savannah State, beginning with a doubleheader on Friday at 1 p.m. Saturday's 1 p.m. game will be Senior Day.