Posted on
Sun, Apr. 18, 2004, The State Newspaper
Benedict wins three games to claim title
Tigers battle back from losers’ bracket, beat Albany
St. twice
BY JOHN DEVLIN
Special Correspondent
The Benedict College softball team stormed out of
the loser’s bracket and won the Southern Intercollegiate
Athletic Conference championship with three victories
Saturday at T.S. Martin Park.
The Tigers (28-11) will advance to the NCAA Division
II Southeast Regional tournament in two weeks at a
site to be determined.
Benedict’s march to the title began with a 5-3 extra-inning
win against SIAC Western Division champion Kentucky
State. The Tigers then earned 7-6 and 13-6 victories
against Albany State, the team that dumped the Tigers
into the loser’s bracket with a 4-2 win Friday.
“We all knew the situation when got here this morning,”
said Benedict coach Gwendolyn Rouse, whose last playoff
team at the school was in 2002 at the NAIA level. “I
just told the girls that they’d have to go all out
an inning at a time. We saw some good pitching, but
the bats really came through.”
Rouse’s primary concern after the first two days of
the tournament was a lack of clutch hitting, primarily
in the loss to Albany State. But the Benedict attack
returned to form Saturday, led by a trio of Virgin
Island natives: freshmen Lalique Gumbs-Prince and Lynia
Lyburd and junior Shackia Liburd.
Gumbs-Prince reached base eight times in 12 at-bats
and scored seven runs. Lyburd, who was named the tournament
MVP, drove in five runs in the three games. Liburd
finished with six RBIs and made several defensive plays
at shortstop.
“I don’t know what was wrong before, but we showed
our stuff today,” Gumbs-Prince said. “My job as a leadoff
hitter is to get on base and set the tempo for my team.
I knew that I’d have to relax and be patient at the
plate, and I was able to do that.”
“When Lalique is getting on base and running around,
the rest of us seemed to piggy back off it,” said Lyburd,
who had at least one RBI in all six tournament games,
Against Kentucky State, the Tigers built a 3-1 lead,
but the Thorobreds forced the game into extra innings
with single runs in the sixth and seventh innings against
Benedict starter Deanna Butler.
In the top of the eighth, Lyburd’s bad-hop single
over KSU shortstop Tara Whelan’s glove plated Tiffany
White and Gumbs-Prince with the winning runs.
In the championship round, Albany State (25-39) needed
one win to earn the title in the double-elimination
tournament while Benedict needed to win twice.
Benedict built a 7-2 lead through five innings. Gumbs-Prince
had three hits and scored three times. Liburd drove
in four runs with three hits, and Lyburd had two hits
and two RBIs.
But the Golden Rams pulled within one, 7-6, in the
bottom of the seventh and had two runners on base when
Tigers pitcher Tina Sanders recorded the last out.
In the finale, Albany State (25-39) jumped to a 3-0
lead in the top of the first against Sanders, who started
again for Benedict. The Tigers countered with two runs
in the bottom of the first and for 10 runs in the second.
LaShanteau Green’s two-run single broke a tie at 3,
putting the Tigers ahead for good.
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