CHARLESTON, W.Va. (March 12) - The Tigers were dealt a heartbreaking 4-3 loss in the 12th inning at Charleston Saturday afternoon at Triana Field.

With the score tied at 3-3, the Salem International University baseball team (2-13) committed a pair of errors in the 12th inning that allowed a Golden Eagle run to cross the plate for the walk-off win.

The Tigers got on the board first in the fourth inning on a two-RBI double by junior third baseman Trent Dalton (Logan, W.Va./Logan) and added another run in the fifth on a RBI single by senior center fielder Joe Drago (Albany, Ind./Delta).

Charleston (4-9) rallied back with a three-run home run in the sixth inning to tie the game up, but neither team could break the tie in the final three innings, sending the game into extra frames.

The game nearly ended in the 10th inning when Charleston led the inning off with back-to-back singles. After a double-steal of second and third, the lead runner was caught at the plate with two outs to end the threat and continue the game. The two hits would be the only allowed by Salem International over the final five innings of the game.

The Golden Eagles answered by retiring the Tigers in order in each of the final five innings of the game. Charleston finally ended the game in the 12th inning when a runner reached on a two-out error, stole both second and third and scored on another error.

Several Tiger pitchers took the mound, with none pitching more than two innings, and combined for 12 strikeouts. Junior Tanner Helms (Lake Charles, La./Sam Houston) was saddled with the loss after allowing one run (zero earned) on one hit with two strikeouts over 1.2 innings of work.

Drago and senior Rahul Badve (Mississauga, Ontario/Woodlands Secondary) each finished with two hits to lead the team.

Salem International is back on the diamond this Friday, March 18 when they head to Madisonville, Tennessee to take on Hiwassee for the first of a four-game series over two days.