Lady Hawks move on at GSC tourney

From college reports

The Shorter softball team came from behind to top Delta State 5-4 to advance in the Gulf South Conference tournament.

Shorter ( 30- 18) fell behind 3- 0, after theLady Statesmen scored a run in the first and added two more in the second.

But from there the Lady Hawks began chipping away, making the most of the opportunities they were given.

Taylor Ann Oda walked to lead off the third, and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Carson Carriker, before Tiffany Holland tallied an RBI double to shallow right field to bring her in. In the fourth, Kameron Carter led off the inning with a walk, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Peyton Barthel, and come in an RBI double to right center from Ericka Bynum to make the score 3-2.

The Lady Hawks took the lead for good in the fifth. Niki Cook singled up the middle and moved to second when Kendall Johnson reached on an error by the third baseman. The pair then came in on Carter’s 14th home run of the season to put Shorter ahead 5-3. For coverage of Berry, Shorter, GNTC and GHC, visit the college page at RN-T.com.

Delta State (34-20) threatened in the seventh with two outs, recording three consecutive singles, scoring one run. Kalei Kimbrell then came in to face what would be the final batter, turning in her 12th strikeout of the weekend.

Five different players tallied a hit in the game for Shorter.

Payton Lippert earned the win, turning in five innings of relief, allowing one run on five hits with two walks and three strikeouts. Kimbrell faced one batter to earn the save, her eighth of the season. While, Hannah Draper made the start, pitching 1 2-3 innings, allowing three runs on three hits with a walk.

Shorter was originally scheduled to play West Florida later in the afternoon Friday, but because of the weather, the games were moved to this morning. Shorter will take on West Florida at 1:15 p.m. The winner will advance to play the loser of the North Alabama/ Valdosta State game. That game will be played at 11:00 a.m. today.

Tennis: Berry women 5, Oglethorpe 4

The Berry women’s tennis team defeated Oglethorpe 5-4 Friday in the quarterfinals of the Southern Athletic Association championships.

Berry moved to 10- 5, and the Stormy Petrels’ season ends at 1110.

Berry trailed 2-1 after the doubles competition, then swept the top four singles flight.

Fourth- seeded Berry will take on top-ranked Sewanee this morning in the SAA semifinals.

BSC men 6, Berry 0

The Berry College men’s tennis team lost a Southern Athletic Association quarterfinal match to Birmingham- Southern, 6- 0, on Friday afternoon.

The Vikings end the year with a 7-8 record.

The Panthers advance to today’s semifinal round with a 15- 4 mark.