ORMOND BEACH, Fla. – Thanks largely to the long ball, the Hampton University softball team overcame two errors and four hit batters Thursday afternoon at the Ormond Beach Sports Complex, walking off with a 4-3 win over Savannah State in the first round.
 
The Lady Pirates (28-18) advance to the next round, where they will face Bethune-Cookman, the top seed in the MEAC Southern Division, at 7 p.m.
 
Hampton, the North's No. 2 seed, has now won 13 straight games.
 
It started in the bottom of the seventh, when freshman Taylor Clark (Queen Creek, Ariz.) was hit by a pitch and later advanced to second on a wild pitch with the score tied 3-3. Sophomore McKalee Rouse (Aledo, Texas) then singled to left field to score Clark and end the game.
 
Savannah State (25-20), the South's No. 3 seed, got on the board in the top of the first inning, taking a 1-0 lead when Torrian Wright singled and advanced to third on an error to bring in a run.
 
Hampton answered in the bottom of the third inning, when freshman Danielle Budden (Jackson, N.J.), a First Team All-MEAC selection, hit her team-best sixth home run of the season, a solo shot to left field that tied the game at 1-1.
 
But Savannah State regained the lead in the top of the fourth, pushing across a run after a hit batter and a throwing error to go up 2-1.
 
The Lady Pirates immediately tied things back up, thanks to a leadoff homer from junior Kerissa Burruel (Phoenix, Ariz.), her second of the season. Freshman Heather Baccus (Hertford, N.C.) added a solo shot of her own in the top of the sixth, her third of the season, to give Hampton a 3-2 lead.
 
But Savannah State tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the seventh on an RBI single from Amanda Hallman.
 
Burruel and Baccus each had two hits for the Lady Pirates.
 
Junior Jailynn Jackson (Virginia Beach, Va.), the two-time reigning MEAC Pitcher of the Year, picked up her 18th win of the season, striking out four and scattering seven hits over seven innings of work.
 
For more information on Hampton University softball, please call the Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-5811, or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.