MONTGOMERY, Ala. __ The Tuskegee softball team split a pair of games on the first day at the HBCU Celebration Classic, defeating Southern (10-8, 12 inn.) before falling to Tennessee State (9-1, 5 inn.) Friday evening at Lagoon Park in Montgomery.
The team saw both ends of the offensive spectrum on Friday, scoring nine runs on 12 hits in the first game against the Jaguars, before scoring just once on five hits with five left on base in the second game against Tennessee State.
Tuskegee 10, Southern 8 (12 inn.)
Offense was the story in the first game of the day of the weekend for TU against Southern, as both teams put up double figure runs on the board in the game that went for an extra five innings of play.
Southern jumped out to an early two-run lead on a combined four hits, scoring on RBI singles in the first and second inning.
Tuskegee earned its first lead in the top of the fourth, as
Jessica Morales and D Horton both walked before a three-run homer to left field from Chadwick, her second of the year, to give TU a 3-2 lead. However, Southern responded in the bottom half of the frame, adding another two hits and two more runs on an RBI double to left center for the 4-3 edge.
The Golden Tigers answered back in the fifth when Chadwick ripped a single through the left side to score Morales to tie the game at 4-4. The score remained tied through the seventh, forcing extra innings, until
T'yauna Rector singled to right to score Ross to take a 5-4 edge in the top of the ninth.
The Jaguars answered in the bottom half of the inning, scoring on a sacrifice fly to right field to send it to the tenth, followed by both teams added a run to their totals over the next two innings.
Victoria Harrison broke the tie in the 12th with an RBI single to score
Kaeley Roldan, followed by an RBI and score from
Katie Harris to push the lead to 10-7. TU held Southern to just one run in the bottom half to secure the 12-inning win.
Kamya Hampton pitched a career-high 12 innings on the day, facing 51 batters and forcing 23 groundouts and striking out five in six shutout innings.
Chadwick was a force at the plate, going 2-for-5 with four total RBI, including a three-run home run in the win, while
Laila Wood went a perfect 2-for-2 with an RBI while serving as a pinch hitter.
Tennessee State 9, Tuskegee 1 (5 inn.)
The Golden Tigers struggled to find offensive production in the second game,
As Caitlyn Manus got the ball for TSU in the contest and picked up the win, allowing just five hits and one run while striking out six in five innings of work.
Morales got the lone hit for TU in the first with a single to left field, however two groundouts and a pop foul ended the top half.
Caroline Clark got the start in the circle for Tuskegee and retired the side in order in the bottom of the frame.
Following a walk from Harrison to start the second,
Alexis Thompson singled to center to push Harrison to scoring position at third base.
Carole Ross reached base on a fielder's choice play to the shortstop and brought Harrison across the plate for the 1-0 lead.
From there, it was all Tennessee State, as the Tigers broke the game open with four runs on four hits in the bottom of the second, followed by a single run in the third and four more runs in the fourth to take the 9-1 win in five innings.
Up Next
The Golden Tigers continue the HBCU Celebration Classic on Saturday with Grambling State at 10 a.m., Alabama A&M at 12 p.m., and Alcorn State at 2 p.m.
How to Follow the Golden Tigers: For complete information on Tuskegee Golden Tigers Softball, visit
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