CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Benedict College Lady Tigers broke a 10-10 tie in the top of the seventh inning with a pair of runs, then held off Johnson C. Smith in the bottom of the seventh to take a 12-11 victory in a non-conference softball game on Wednesday afternoon.
The second game of the scheduled doubleheader was cancelled.
Shamaria Dupree led off the seventh inning with a triple, and scored on the throw, to give Benedict an 11-10 lead.
Hope Gunn hit a two-out double, and
Cayla Crooks followed with a double to score Gunn.
Johnson C. Smith hit a two-out double and single to score and cut the lead to 12-11, but the Lady Tigers caught the potential game-tying runner trying to steal to end the game.
Benedict took an early 2-1 lead as
Taylor Gilbert had an RBI single in the second inning. The Golden Bulls scored five runs in the bottom of the second. The Lady Tigers chipped away and tied the game with three runs in the fourth inning. Gilbert had an RBI triple, Dupree followed with a single to score Gilbert. Dupree later scored on a single by Crooks to tie the score at 6-6.
Johnson C. Smith pulled back ahead with three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Benedict scored three runs in the fifth to tie the game again. Gilbert had an RBI single, Dupree had an RBI triple, and
Heaven Strickland tied the game with an RBI.
Johnson C. Smith scored a run in the bottom of the fifth, and Benedict tied the game again with a run in the top of the sixth by scoring on a Golden Bull error.
Gilbert went 3-for-4 with three RBIs, while Dupree went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and four runs scored.
The Lady Tigers, now 9-29 on the season, take on Allen University in a three-game SIAC series this weekend. They will play a single game on Friday at 5 p.m. at King Park, with a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 3 p.m.
