ORANGEBURG, S.C. – South Carolina State singled in the winning run in the bottom of the 10^th inning to hand the Norfolk State softball team a 3-2 loss on Friday afternoon at Orangeburg Recreation Park.
 
The first day of the MEAC Round-Up came to a close when Miranda Gonzalez singled in the winning run with one out in the 10^th. The Spartans piled up 10 hits on the day but left nine runners on base in falling to 14-13 overall, 7-6 in the MEAC.
 
Senior Jazzmaine Hammond had four of those hits as she finished the day 4-for-4 with two runs scored. Junior Alison Guckin drove in a pair of runs for the Spartans, including an RBI single in the seventh that sent the game to extra innings.
 
South Carolina State improved to 3-17 overall, 2-7 in the league. DeAsia Lowther (3-8) pitched all 10 innings for the Bulldogs, allowing the 10 hits with two earned runs.
 
The Spartans wasted a solid outing from junior Joana Holland (2-1), who pitched 9.1 innings and gave up six hits and three earned runs with six strikeouts.
 
The Bulldogs scored two runs in the first inning for the early lead, forcing NSU to play catch-up. Guckin hit an RBI groundout in the third to score Hammond, who had led off the inning with a single and a stolen base, to make it 2-1.
 
The Spartans stranded a pair of runners in the sixth but were able to tie the game up in the seventh. Hammond doubled with one out and scored when Guckin lined a single into center field. Holland then got out of a jam in the bottom of the inning when the Bulldogs had runners on first and second with no outs to preserve the 2-2 tie.
 
Despite having the bases loaded with one out in the ninth, NSU was unable to push across the go-ahead run. In the 10^th, with the international tiebreaker rule in effect, Gonzalez' single brought the game to a close.
 
Saturday will bring day 2 of the three-day round-up, in which teams from the MEAC Northern Division play each team from the Southern Division once. The Spartans will take on North Carolina A&T at 1:30 p.m.