SALEM, Va. (March 13) – The Tigers claimed three wins over Lake Erie, Virginia Union and Bowie State at the Salem, Virginia Invitational this past weekend.
 
The Salem International University softball team (9-5) defeated Lake Erie  on Saturday, 3-2, picked up a 12-4 win over Virginia Union on Sunday, and closed the weekend with a 3-1 victory over Bowie State on Sunday. The nine wins in the team's first 14 games is the best start to a season in recent program history.
 
GAME 1: Salem International 3, Lake Erie 2
Freshman Monika Garabedian (Weston, Fla./Cypress Bay) delivered a three-run home run in the sixth inning to help the Tigers earn a 3-2 win over Lake Erie on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Storm plated two runs in the second inning to take the lead and limited the Salem International offense to two hits over the first five innings of the game. Sophomore Cass Alexy (Royersford, Pa./Spring-Ford) led the sixth off with a single and senior Katie Chryssofos (Chapmanville, W.Va./Logan) drew a walk to set the table for Garabedian, who smacked her first-career home run to give the Tigers the lead.
 
Sophomore Kayla Lynch (Painesville, Ohio/Riverside) was superb to pick up her sixth win of the season. She limited the Storm to two runs (one earned) on five hits with five strikeouts in the game.
 
Garabedian finished the game 2-for-2 with the home run, a single and a walk to help the team pick up the win.
 
GAME 2: Tiffin 2, Salem International 1
The Dragons held the Tiger offense to two hits in Salem International's 2-0 loss to Tiffin Saturday evening.
 
Tiffin scored two runs in the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly and a RBI single, which would be more than enough run support for Dragon pitcher Kelsey Yaratch. She held the Tigers to two hits, fanned 10 and walked one in a complete-game effort.
 
Sophomore Katie Holestin (Covington, Va./Allegheny) was saddled with the loss. She allowed two runs on 10 hits with a career-best seven strikeouts in the loss.
 
GAME 3: Salem International 12, Virginia Union 4 (Final/5 innings)
Senior Katie Chryssofos hit for the cycle, as the Tigers clubbed out 16 hits in five innings to earn a 12-4 run-ruled shortened win over Virginia Union Sunday morning.
 
After the Panthers got on the board in the top of the first, Salem International scored five runs, including a two-run home run by Chryssofos to take a 5-1 lead. The Tigers scored runs of the next four innings, including a walk-off single by Garabedian to earn the run-rule victory.
 
Chryssofos finished the game 4-for-4 with the cycle, three RBI and two runs scored. Sophomore Tori Butler (Hedgesville, W.Va./Musselman) collected three hits and three runs scored, while freshman Jordan Whitaker (Palmetto, Fla./Palmetto) had two hits, three RBI and a run scored.
 
Sophomore Hanna Crew (Canton, Ohio/Perry) added two hits and two RBI, Garabedian finished with two hits and an RBI, while junior Vanessa Jimenez (Winnetka, Calif./Antelope Valley) tallied two RBI and two runs scored.
 
Holestin (2-4) tossed the complete-game while allowing four runs (three earned) on six hits with five strikeouts.
 
GAME 4: Salem International 3, Bowie State 1
Senior Brittany Diss (Byesville, Ohio/Meadowbrook) came through with a pinch-hit two-RBI double in the fifth inning to help the Tigers defeat Bowie State 3-1 in the final game on Sunday morning.
 
The Bulldogs broke the scoreless-tie in the fourth inning with the help of an error to take the lead. Salem International responded in the fifth with one out hits by freshman Kaleigh Decker (West Palm Beach, Fla./Palm Beach Central) and Lynch to set the table for Diss, who doubled in both runners. Whitaker added an insurance run with a safety squeeze to give the Tigers a 3-1 lead.
 
The Bulldogs had runners on in each of the final two innings, but did not advance anyone into scoring position either time.
 
Lynch (7-1) earned the win after limiting Bowie State to one run (zero earned) on six hits with three strikeouts in a complete-game effort.
 
Three of the Tigers four hits in the game were doubles, including one each by Diss, Lynch and Alexy.
 
Garabedian improved her batting average to a team-high .412 after finishing the weekend 5-for-8 with a home run and four RBI. She also five walks and only struck out once.
 
Lynch picked up two wins on the rubber and lowered her ERA to 1.82 after finishing the weekend with three runs allowed (one earned) on nine hits with eight strikeouts in a pair of complete-game performances.
 
Salem International has announced that its home opener on Tuesday, March 15 with Malone has been postponed to April 26. The Tigers next games are in Nashville, Tennessee when they open conference play at defending-league champion Trevecca on Friday, March 18 at 2 p.m.