VIENNA, W.Va. (April 12) – The Tigers smacked three home runs, including two from senior Katie Chryssofos (Chapmanville, W.Va./Logan), to earn a 9-5 game one win and a split at Ohio Valley Wednesday night. The Fighting Scots took the nightcap 9-8 to conclude play.
 
The Salem International University softball team moves to 15-17 overall, 5-11 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC). Meanwhile, Ohio Valley improves its league mark to 6-11, 9-30 overall this season.
 
The Tigers broke open a scoreless game one in the fifth inning when Chryssofos delivered a three-run home run and sophomore shortstop Cass Alexy (Royersford, Pa./Spring-Ford) tacked on another with a RBI double to give Salem International a 4-0 lead.
 
After Ohio Valley responded with a five-run bottom of the fifth to take the lead, Chryssofos smacked her second three-run home run of the game to put the Tigers up 7-5. Alexy added a pair of insurance markers with a two-run home run of her own in the seventh inning to push Salem to a 9-5 lead.
 
Sophomore Kayla Lynch (Painesville, Ohio/Riverside) improved to 10-7 this season after limiting the Fighting Scots to five runs on seven hits with six strikeouts in a complete-game effort.
 
Chryssofos finished with her fourth career multi-home run game, while Alexy's round-tripper was the first of her collegiate career.
 
Salem International rallied from an 8-4 deficit to tie the game in the sixth inning, but was eventually defeated 9-8 in game two.
 
With the score 8-4, Ohio Valley recorded the first two outs of the sixth inning, before the Tigers rallied for four runs in the frame. Salem International drew a pair of walks and connected for four hits , including RBI hits by freshman left fielder Jordan Whitaker (Palmetto, Fla./Palmetto), freshman third baseman Monika Garabedian (Weston, Fla./Cypress Bay) and Alexy to tie the game.
 
The first four Fighting Scots reached base in the bottom of the sixth to plate the winning run.
 
Garabedian led the Tigers with three hits and two RBI, while Alexy tallied two hits and a team-best three RBI in the loss. Senior first baseman Jane Judware (North Lawrence, N.Y./St. Lawrence Central) also tallied two hits in the game. All nine of Salem International's hits were singles.
 
Sophomore Katie Holestin (Covington, Va./Allegheny) was tagged with the loss. Holestin (5-10) allowed nine runs (six earned) on 14 hits with one strikeout over 5.2 innings of work.
 
The softball team's week is just getting started, with G-MAC doubleheaders on each of the next four days. Salem International hosts Alderson Broaddus tomorrow, Thursday, April 13 for a twinbill at 3 p.m.