BATON ROUGE, LA ? Two freshmen, outfielder Erin Burford and pitcher Tomi Garrison, showed promise in an 6-3 loss to Ohio State in Sam Houston State's second contest in the LSU Tiger Classic softball tournament Saturday morning.
Burford gave the Bearkats a 3-1 lead with a two-run double as a pinch hitter in the fourth inning. Garrison allowed the Buckeyes only two hits and struck out two facing 14 batters in her second college start.
With a pair of solo home runs in the third and fourth innings and a four-run fifth inning, Ohio State rallied for the victory to drop Sam Houston's season mark to 4-3.
Morgan Mikulin, Amy Brown and Casie Everitt each had two hits to lead the Kats at the plate. Brown started the scoring for Sam Houston with a double in the second inning, scoring on a single by Everitt.
Another freshman, Calli Wood, and Brown also singled in the fourth inning and scored on Burford's double.
Brandi Crnkovic, who pitched all 14 innings in Sam Houston's 2-1 loss to No. 5 Texas A&M Wednesday night, was the losing pitcher in relief. Crnkovic gave up eight hits and four runs in the final three innings.
Rain washed out the Bearkats' scheduled Saturday afternoon matchup with LSU. Weather permitting, the Kats will finish tournament play with games against LSU and Ohio State Sunday.
