The USC Salkehatchie softball traveled to Citizens Park in Aiken, SC this past weekend (2/15-17) to participate in the Ringor Invitational. The tournament began with pool play on Friday and Saturday morning and ended with bracket play on Saturday afternoon and Sunday. The Lady Indians finished the tournament with a record of 1-5.

USC Salkehatchie opened pool play on Friday afternoon with a contest against Gadsden State Community College out of Alabama. The Lady Indians battled throughout the game, but costly defensive mistakes led to a 3-2 defeat.

Gadsden State opened the scoring with a run in the bottom of the first inning, but Kristi Gregory (Gaston, SC) tied the game at 1-1 in the top of the second when she led off with a double and scored on an error. Gadsden State reclaimed the lead with a single run in the bottom of the second, and the score remained 2-1 until the Lady Indians came to bat in the sixth. USC Salkehatchie managed to tie the game with back-to-back two-out doubles from Nikki Cumalander (Chapin, SC) and Chiquita Halsey (Chester, SC). Gadsden State responded in their half of the sixth, taking advantage of an error and plating the deciding run.

Cea Knox (Myrtle Beach, SC) was the hard luck loser for the Lady Indians, as she threw a complete game and gave up zero earned runs on three hits. Cumalander had a solid showing at the plate, tallying two hits in three trips to the dish.

With little time to dwell on the disappointing loss, the Lady Indians turned right around at 4:00 and faced off with Roane State Community College in game number two of pool play. After surrendering a single run in the top of the first inning, USC Salkehatchie proceeded to score single runs in the second, third, fourth, and fifth innings, claiming a 4-1 lead. The Lady Indians appeared to hit a wall from that point on, as Roane State plated 11 runs over the final two innings to claim a 12-4 victory.

Day one came to an end and the Lady Indians returned to action in pool play on Saturday when they played Young Harris College at noon. Young Harris came out swinging the bats, as they quickly built a 6-0 lead after three innings of play. USC Salkehatchie cut the lead to 6-1 in the bottom of the third when Taffeny Hall (Myrtle Beach, SC) walked and came around to score on an RBI double from Cea Knox. The Lady Indians managed to push another run across the plate in the sixth, but fell by an eventual score of 6-2.

Facing another short turnaround, the Lady Indians returned to action at 3:30, and began bracket play against fellow Region X member, USC Sumter. The game was so tightly contested that extra innings were required to determine a winner, with USC Salkehatchie emerging as the victor by a score of 5-4.

USC Sumter got on the scoreboard first when they turned a Salkehatchie error into a run in the bottom of the third inning. The Lady Indians answered in the top of the fourth, as Nikki Cumalander connected on a two-run homerun to give her team a 2-1 advantage. USC Salkehatchie extended the lead to 3-1 in the top of the sixth inning when Chiquita Halsey reached on an error and eventually came around to score on an RBI single from Michelle Turner (Sumter, SC).

Another lapse in defense cost the Lady Indians in the bottom of the seventh, as two errors led to two runs for USC Sumter, forcing the game into extra innings. The extra innings were played in sudden death format, as each team started the inning with a runner on second base. Instead of bunting the runner over to third, Nikki Cumalander was given the green light to swing away, and she connected on her second two-run homerun of the game, giving USC Salkehatchie a 5-3 lead. USC Sumter added a run in their half of the eighth inning, but the Lady Indians were able to hang on for a 5-4 win.

Cea Knox picked up the win on the mound, throwing a complete game and giving up one earned run and one hit.

With a win under their belt in bracket play, USC Salkehatchie took to the field on Sunday for a match-up with Cleveland State Community College out of Tennessee. Cleveland State jumped on the board with five runs in the bottom of the second inning and the Lady Indians were never able to recover, mustering only a single run in the top of the fourth and losing by a score of 5-1.

The loss to Cleveland State ended USC Salkehatchie's run to a tournament championship and led them to a consolation game with Hiwassee College. The Lady Indians took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Chelsea Williamson (Moncks Corner, SC) doubled and scored on a single by Kristi Gregory. The lead lasted until Hiwassee scored twice in the fourth and four times in the fifth to take a 6-1 advantage. The Lady scored another run in the top of the seventh, but fell by a score of 6-2.

USC Salkehatchie (2-10, 0-0) continues their streak of road games this Friday when they travel to Milledgeville, GA for games with Georgia Military College at 3:00. They return to action on Saturday with games in Barnesville, GA against Gordon College. The doubleheader with Gordon is slated to begin at 1:00.

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