TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Wichita State softball team defeated Charleston Southern, 3-2 in the first game of the Unconquered Classic in Tallahassee, Fla., before dropping the second game to UC Santa Barbara, 2-1.

Brittany Fortner hit .800 on the day at JoAnne Graf Field for the Shockers, including a double and a RBI, while Sloan Anderson pitched a total of nine innings, striking out three and allowing seven hits. Wichita State did not record any errors in the two games for a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage and hit .302 as a team.

Game One: Wichita State 3, Charleston Southern 2

In the first game of the day, the Buccaneers got on the board first after a walk and two singles loaded the bases for Charleston Southern before Malone walked Christian to give the Buccaneers a 1-0 advantage.  

The Shockers responded in the third when Kelli Spring walked before Liz Broyles hit a RBI double to center field to tie the game, 1-1. Brittany Fortner brought Broyles in on a double to left center to give Wichita State its first lead, 2-1.

Melanie Jaegers walked to start off the fourth inning, advancing to second on a SAC bunt by Vandever. Cacy Williams singled through the left side to bring in Jaegers and the Shockers extended the lead 3-1. Broyles singled to shortstop shortly after to load the bases for Wichita State but Paige Mason hit a groundout to second to end the inning.

Charleston Southern hit three-straight singles to load the bases in the bottom of the fifth, scoring on a passed ball to cut the Wichita State lead, 3-2. Katie Malone retired the next batter to get the Shockers out of the inning.

Sloan Anderson relieved Malone of her duties in the bottom of the sixth after Malone pitched five innings, striking out four and allowing six hits and two runs.

The Buccaneers threatened to score in the bottom of the seventh, loading the bases with no outs but Anderson struck out the next two batters and a grounder hit directly to Mason gave the Shockers the last out they needed to defeat Charleston Southern, 3-2.

Malone (2-1) picked up the win for the Shockers and Anderson was recorded with the save after pitching two innings, striking out three and allowing just two hits.

Game Two: UCSB 2, Wichita State 1

UC Santa Barbara put its first run on the board in the top of the first off an RBI single to center field but the Shocker defense held the Gauchos the rest of the inning to take a 0-1 deficit in the early going.

Williams hit a single to left field and Spring reached on a fielder's choice to get runners in scoring position for the Shockers in the bottom of the third before Broyles walked to load the bases. Williams scored on a passed ball to tie the game for Wichita State, 1-1.

Stacy Cavazos hit a home run to center field to start the fifth inning for the Gauchos to take a 2-1 lead. The UCSB defense held Wichita State in the final two innings to take game two from the Shockers.

Anderson allowed five hits and two runs over seven innings in the loss for Wichita State, while Andriana Collins was recorded with the win for UCSB, pitching four innings and allowing four hits, one run and striking out one. Mason went 2-for-3 at the plate and Williams went 1-for-3 with eight putouts in the loss.

The Shockers will play Florida A&M at 8 a.m. (CT) Saturday morning and will face Charleston Southern for a second game at 3:30 p.m. (CT).

-WICHITA STATE-