Albany, Ga. – The Claflin University softball team escaped elimination three times Friday (May 4) to advance to championship day of the 2018 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) postseason tournament. The double-elimination tournament will conclude Saturday, May 5 at Gordon Sports Complex in Albany, Ga.
The Lady Panthers advanced to the final day of competition by defeating Lane College 6-1 in their final game of the day.
The win was the third of the day for Claflin who improves to 27-27 on the season.
Claflin controlled the game from the beginning jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the first. The Lady Panthers offense then went stagnant over the next four innings but their defense remained solid, allowing just one run in the top of the fifth.
Claflin tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the six en route to the five run win.
Shaquailla German held the Dragons hitters in check, allowing just four hits with eight strikeouts in picking up the win. Ericka Webster went six innings and allowed eight hits in the loss.
Earlier in the day, Claflin escaped elimination by defeating Clark Atlanta 7-5 and Miles College 5-0 in eight innings.
In their first game of the day, the Lady Panthers had to come from an early 2-0 deficit to defeat Clark Atlanta.
After Clark Atlanta scored two runs in the top of the second, Claflin countered in the bottom of the third to take its first lead of the game, 3-2. Clark Atlanta tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the fourth just to see the Lady Panthers score two runs in their half of the inning to regain the lead at 5-3.
Claflin added two additional runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 7-3 lead. Clark Atlanta scored two in the six but could not get any more across, thus falling by the two run margin.
Kayla Cato had two runs with one hit, a homerun, and two RBIs in the win. Deandra Ealey went 2-for-4 with a run and two RBIs for Claflin in the win.
Tiaria Norman came in on relief to pitch three and a third innings allowing two runs to pick up the win.
The middle game of the day was a defense one over the first seven innings as the teams combined for just 10 hits, six for miles and four for Claflin.
After playing to a 0-0 tie after regulation, Claflin offense came to life in the top of the eighth. The Lady Panthers had one more hit in the eighth (5) than it did over the course of the regulation game.
Claflin first five-of-six batters in the eighth crossed the plate. The Lady Panthers also had two additional runners in scoring position with one out but left them stranded.
Norman retired all three Miles batters, via two groundouts and a strikeout, in the bottom of the eighth to secure the win.
Norman was also solid at the plate, going 3-for-3 with one run.
Jada Ames had two hits, including a three-run triple with one run in the win.
Claflin will face Kentucky State University tomorrow, Saturday, May 5, in the elimination (third place) game. First pitch is set for 11 a.m. Should the Lady Panthers advance, they will face Albany State University in the Championship Game at 1 p.m. Claflin will have to defeat Albany State twice to win its second straight title.
