MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - The Tigers opened the season with a split of their games on day one of the College of Charleston Cougar Classic. Towson defeated Akron 3-1 in the opener before falling to East Tennessee State by a 7-5 margin in the second contest. The Tigers (1-1) are now 11-5 in season openers under Head coach Lisa Costello.
"I thought we did some things well today and I was proud of how we scrapped and fought," said Costello. "For not seeing a lot of time outside prior to these games it was a decent start. We had one bad inning in the second game but we can improve on that."
Akron (3-3) jumped out to an early lead over the Tigers with a run in the top of the first. The Tigers however got the equalizer in the bottom of the first. Andrea Stevenson reached on a fielder's choice and scored on Sammi DiPompo's double to right center.
The Tigers added to their lead in the bottom of the fourth as DiPompo reached on an infield single. Brianna Jones used a two-out infield single to score DiPompo. Towson was able to tack on an insurance run in the sixth as DiPompo ripped a one-out triple to center and scored on Lindsey Kent's base hit.
Katie Lingmai earned the win in the circle for the Tigers. She went the distance, allowing just four hits including the first inning home run that gave Akron it's only run. Lingmai had six strikeouts in the game. Alex Riedeman took the loss for Akron after giving up three runs in six innings.
DiPompo was 3-for-3 in the game with two runs scored and an RBI. Kent and Jones had a hit and an RBI while Stevenson recorded a hit and a run scored.
East Tennessee State (1-1) struck first in the second game getting a run in the bottom of the first.
In the top of the third the Tigers got the equalizer as Courtney Wittner led off with a base hit. Wittner was sacrificed to second and came around to score on DiPompo's single through the right side.
East Tennessee State took a 6-1 lead in the game after plating five runs in the bottom of the third. The Bucs would add a run in the fourth as Katie Henderson hit a home run.
The Tigers added to their run total in the top of the sixth. Delanie Dunham recorded her first career RBI with a sacrifice fly while Wittner had an RBI single. Stevenson had an RBI single and later scored on a passed ball in the frame.
Shelby Morris earned the win in the circle after allowing five runs, one of which was earned in 5.2 innings of work. Dominique Ortega took the loss for the Tigers after giving up seven runs, four of which were earned in five innings. Paige Martin pitched the sixth inning for the Tigers and did not allow a hit.
Rachel Miller and Wittner were both 3-for-3 for the Tigers. Miller had a run scored while Wittner scored two runs and also drove in a run. Henderson finished the game 2-for-2 with three runs scored and an RBI.
Towson returns to action on day two of the College of Charleston Cougar Classic. The Tigers face Canisius on Saturday at 4 p.m. and Morehead State at 6 p.m.
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