RICHMOND, Va. (Feb. 21) - The Tigers opened 2016 by winning four of five games in North Carolina and Virginia Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

The Salem International University softball team (4-1) split a doubleheader on Friday at Johnson C. Smith, swept Virginia Union in a twinbill on Saturday and finished the weekend with a win at Virginia State on Sunday.


GAME 1: Salem International 2, Johnson C. Smith 1
The Tigers manufactured a run in the fourth and sophomore center fielder Tori Butler (Hedgesville, W.Va./Musselman) delivered a game-winning solo home run in the fifth to help Salem International open the 2016 campaign with a 2-1 win over Johnson C. Smith Friday afternoon.

The Bulls struck early with a run in the first inning off of sophomore pitcher Kayla Lynch (Painesville, Ohio/Riverside), but Lynch settled in and only yielded two more hits for the rest of the game.

Senior Katie Chryssofos (Chapmanville, W.Va./Logan) led the fourth inning off by reaching third base on an error by the Johnson C. Smith left fielder. After the next batter was retired, freshman third baseman Monika Garabedian (Weston, Fla./Cypress Bay) delivered a sacrifice fly to even up the game.

The next inning Butler smacked a home run to left field. The solo shot would stand as the winning run, as Lynch limited the Bulls to one baserunner over the final five innings.

Lynch earned the win after limiting Johnson C. Smith to one run on four hits with a career-high 12 strikeouts.


GAME 2: Johnson C. Smith 6, Salem International 5 (Final/8 Innings)
The Tigers stranded a go-ahead run at third base in the top of the eighth inning, before Johnson C. Smith walked-off Salem International 6-5 in the second game on Friday afternoon.

Salem International took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a Chryssofos RBI-single, but the Bulls plated a trio of runs in the bottom half of the first to take a 3-1 advantage.

The Tigers cut into the deficit in the third inning when sophomore first baseman Alyssa Discepola (Rio Grande, N.J./Middle Township) roped a RBI-double to right field, but two more runs by the Bulls in the fourth extended their lead to three.

Salem International scored once in the fifth inning to pull within 5-3 and tied the game with a pair of runs in the sixth. Freshman outfielder Jordan Whitaker (Palmetto, Fla./Palmetto) delivered a sacrifice fly and senior Kirstie Young (Hollywood, Fla./McArthur) came through with a two-out pinch-hit RBI single to tie the game.

Johnson C. Smith nearly ended the game in the seventh, but an unconventional double play following a walk ended the threat. The potential winning run was cut down at the plate following a wild sequence of events in which the initial player who drew the walk was tagged at second to begin the double play.

After stranding the go-ahead run at third base in the top of the eighth, Johnson C. Smith doubled in a run with two outs to win the game.

Sophomore Katie Holestin (Covington, Va./Allegheny) was saddled with the loss. She allowed six runs (five earned) on 11 hits and matched a career-best with six strikeouts over 7.2 innings of work.

GAME 3: Salem International 17, Virginia Union 12
Chryssofos and Discepola each delivered a home run, as the Tigers connected for 18 hits in their 17-12 win over Virginia Union in the first game on Saturday.

Salem International established leads of 4-1 and 8-4 before the Panthers battled back to take a 9-8 lead in the fourth inning.

The Tigers then erupted for nine runs in the sixth inning to take a 17-9 lead. Discepola led the inning off with a game-tying home run and RBI base hits by sophomore shortstop Cass Alexy (Royersford, Pa./Spring-Ford), Discepola, Chryssofos and Garabedian gave the Tigers the lead in an inning in which 13 batters were sent to the dish.

Virginia Union loaded the bases in the seventh inning, but only tacked on two runs to close the game out.

Holestin (1-1) earned the win in relief after yielding four runs on five hits with a strikeout over the final 3.2 innings.

Discepola led the team at the plate with four hits, four RBI and three runs scored. Alexy and Chryssofos each had two hits and three RBI, Garabedian and Lynch each tallied two hits and two RBI, while Butler, Whitaker and sophomore catcher Hanna Crew (Canton, Ohio/Perry) each finished with two hits apiece.


GAME 4: Salem International 11, Virginia Union 8
Led by a career-game from Chryssofos, the Tigers finished off a sweep of Virginia Union with an 11-8 win Saturday afternoon.

Salem International raced out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning behind RBI knocks by Chryssofos, Garabedian and Lynch. Chryssofos extended the Tiger lead to 6-0 in the second inning with a three-run home run down the left field line.

After Virginia Union got on the board with a run in the bottom of the second, Chryssofos crushed a grand slam to left center field to extend the Tiger lead to 10-1.

The Panthers made the game interesting with runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, but the Tiger lead was too much to overcome.

Chryssofos had a career-game to lead the Tigers. She connected for her third-career two home run game and established a new single-game career-high with 8 RBI.

Butler reached base in all four of her plate appearances with three hits, including a double, a walk, a RBI and three runs scored.

Lynch picked up her second win of the season after holding Virginia Union to three runs (one earned) on three hits with three strikeouts over five innings of work.


GAME 5: Salem International 7, Virginia State 0
Led by a complete game shutout by sophomore pitcher Kayla Lynch, the Tigers picked up a 7-0 win over Virginia State on Sunday to close out the opening weekend with a 4-1 record.

Discepola got the Tigers on the board with a solo home run in the first inning to give Salem International a 1-0 lead.

Alexy, Chryssofos and Garabedian each collected RBIs in the third inning to extend the lead to 4-0, before Chryssofos put the game out of reach with a three run home run in the fourth.

The run support was more than enough for Lynch (3-0), who limited the Trojans to zero runs on four hits with three strikeouts for her second-career complete game shutout.

The second game of the scheduled doubleheader with Virginia State was cancelled due to inclement weather.

Chryssofos finished the weekend 9-of-18 (.500) with four home runs, 16 RBI, seven runs scored and two stolen bases to earn G-MAC Hitter of the Week honors to begin her senior campaign.

Salem International will have a week off until they take on Charleston (W.Va.) on Tuesday, March 1 for a non-conference doubleheader at 2 p.m.