(Courtesy Saint Louis Athletics)
Saint Louis softball couldn’t get the bats going Saturday in a pair of losses to host Tennessee State at the Tiger Invitational.
The Billikens fell 4-3 to the Tigers in round-robin play and 3-0 in the tournament semifinals, dropping their season record to 8-7.
Saint Louis loaded the bases in the top of the first inning in game one. Lindsay Friedman led off with a walk, Mackenzie Peter delivered a one-out single and Elizabeth Everingham walked with two away. However, the Billikens could not push across a run, while Tennessee State went on to score four times in the third.
SLU plated all of its runs in the fifth. Madeline Brungardt produced her second single of the game with one out, and Friedman followed with her fourth home run of the season. Alex Nickel walked and was forced by Peter’s ground ball for the second out, but Brianna Lore came through with an RBI double.
Friedman’s one-out walk in the seventh put the tying run aboard, but the Billiken rally was halted.
Lore (5-5) allowed six hits and one walk while striking out 10, one short of tying her career high.
In the semifinal round, Saint Louis managed just four hits and stranded nine runners.
The game began promisingly as Friedman led off with a single, stole second and moved to third on a passed ball. Lore drew a two-out walk, but the Billikens did not dent the scoreboard.
SLU loaded the bases with one out in the second on a double by Kelsey Biggs, a walk to Olivia Roback and a single by Nickel, but Tennessee State escaped with no damage.
In the fifth, Brungardt reached on a one-out error and beat the throw to second on Peter’s ground ball, putting the tying runs on base. Lore singled, but the Tigers caught Peter off second after the ball was returned to the infield, and the rally fizzled.
Meanwhile, Tennessee State scored twice in the third and added an insurance marker in the fifth.
Laney Kneib (3-2) was the tough-luck losing pitcher. Kneib gave six hits, fanned three and did not walk a batter.
The Billikens conclude tournament play Sunday with an 11 a.m. game vs. North Carolina A&T.
