Nashville --- The Tennessee State University softball team suffered an 8-1 loss to Murray State before defeating the Racers, 7-5, in the second game Saturday afternoon at Tiger Field.

In the opening frame, after retiring the first batter, Megan Hedrick gave up two hits that led to Murray State (5-11, 1-1 OVC) capturing a 1-0 lead. Hedrick then struck out the next two batters to get out of the inning without any more runs scoring.

The next inning, Murray increased its lead to 2-0 when Kaitlyn England solo homered to left field.

Tennessee State (6-11, 1-1 OVC) finally got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third. Bridget Metzger reached on a throwing error by the pitcher and advanced to third on a single by Kelly Troglin. Metzger crossed the plate when Jalisa Bradley hit a sacrifice fly to center field.

Murray State added two more runs in the top of the fourth before opening up the lead to 8-1 in the top of the sixth. The Racers scored four runs, off of one hit and one error in the sixth.

TSU was not able to overcome the deficit.

Megan Hedrick (1-4) was charged with the loss for the Tigers while Kristen Broadway (4-2) earned the win for the Racers.  Hedrick

Tennessee State only had two hits in the contest while recording two errors while Murray State tallied 10 runs and committed one error.

As a team, TSU went 2-of-23 at the plate and turned in a dismal .087 hitting percentage in the game. 

In the second game, TSU jumped out to an early 2-0 lead. With Brittany Webb and Bridget Metzger on first and second, Caitlin Eaton drove them both home with a double to right center.

The Tigers built their lead up to 5-0 in the bottom of the third but Murray State answered in the bottom of the fifth with three runs to cut the deficit down to 5-3.

The Racers rallied in the top of the sixth for two more runs to knot the score 5-5.

The Tigers regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth. With runners on the corners, Kelly Troglin stepped up to the plate and hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score Brooke Blackford. The next batter, Jalisa Bradley, doubled off the right field fence to drive in Metzger all the way from first base.a

Murray State threatened in the top of the seventh, loading the bases with two outs but Megan Hedrick got out of the inning unscathed and picked up the save for TSU.

Hannah Schnebly (4-3) earned the win for the Tigers while the Racers' Shelby Kosmecki (0-5) was charged with the loss.

TSU finished the game with seven hits while turning in a much improved .318 batting average. Brittany Webb (2-of-2) led TSU with two hits, Caitlin Eaton had a team best two RBI and Bridget Metzger crossed the plate three times.  

Tennessee State and Murray will play the rubber match tomorrow at 11 a.m. at Tiger Field.