IRONDALE, Ala. – Tennessee State earned a hard fought victory on Saturday, only to drop a heartbreaker in the night cap on the second day of Tiny Laster Classic. TSU earned a 12-6 win over Grambling State, but was edged out 8-7 by Mississippi Valley State.
Tennessee State now holds a 4-10 record on the year, while GSU moved to 0-10 and MVSU improved to 4-13.
The Tigers came out on fire, as Gearlds drove a ball into the corner in left field for a leadoff triple. The sophomore would score two batters later on a sacrifice fly by Dreitlein. Morris followed with the first of her two doubles of the game to move Richard, who reached on a walk, to third. The Tigers capped off the three run inning as Hassell delivered a two single, plating Richard and Morris.
GSU responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning making the score 3-2. TSU would get one back in the third as they would take advantage of a Grambling error, which allowed Dreitlein to reach second. With the junior college transfer on third, Yates flew out to deep center giving Dreitlein a chance to score.
The Tigers fell behind in the bottom of the third as they surrendered four runs to Grambling. In their next at bat, TSU used a bunt single from Gearlds and a double by Richard to set the table for Dreitlein. The Knoxville product ripped a ball up the middle to score Gearlds. Richard would follow on the play when the ball was bobbled by the GSU centerfielder evening the score at 6-6.
The long ball put the Tigers in front for good in the fifth as Gearlds and Dreitlein each powered balls out of the ball park for two-run home runs. It was the first in the career for the lefty slapper, Gearlds, and the second of the season for Dreitlein who finished with four runs batted in.
The Tigers would add a pair of insurance runs in the seventh as pinch-runner Chelsey Buchanan, in for Richard, scored on a Yates single and pinch-runner, Tayler Shimizu, scored on a double steal.
Jasmine Matchen entered in the fourth inning and fired the final four innings to earn her first win at TSU. The junior transfer held GSU scoreless, allowing two hits and a walk, while striking out four.
In the second game of the double dip, the Tigers spotted MVSU a 1-0 lead until the third. Burgess opened the inning with a triple to right and scored on a single by Shimizu. The senior would cross home plate three batters later on a Richard ground out.
MVSU mirrored the Tigers with two runs in the bottom of the inning, only to see TSU fire back with five runs in the fourth. Back-to-back doubles by Morris and Yates tied the score at 3-3. Tennessee State regained the lead on the next batter as Hassell singled to left to bring home Yates. After a Burgess walk, Shimizu registered her first career triple with a drive to right scoring two more for a 6-3 lead.
Shimizu crossed home plate as MVSU was called for an illegal pitch. The Tigers headed to the bottom of the fourth leading 7-3. The Devilettes used a two-run blast in the fifth to cut the deficit to two and used a three-run dinger in the sixth for the lead, and the final score of 8-7.
Taylor Green was tagged with the loss after pitching two innings in relief. Green fell to 3-3 on the season.
Shimizu highlighted the Tiger attack with a 3-for-3 performance with the triple, two runs and three runs batted in. Morris earned her third consecutive multiple hit game finishing the game 2-for-4 with a run.
Gearlds, Yates, Hassell, Burgess and Danica Gleason all notched a hit in the night game.
TSU will close out play on Sunday with a double header. First, the Tigers will face Alabama State at 1:30pm before matching up with Alabama A&M at 3:45pm. Live stats and live play-by-play for both games can be found on tsutigers.com.
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