The Kentucky State University softball team lost a pair of games Saturday to Tuskegee in Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action at Lakeview Park.

GAME ONE: TUSKEGEE 9, KENTUCKY STATE 5
A five-run fifth inning broke open a close game, and the Thorobreds fell in the opener, 9-5.

Senior Jackie Zubiate (Riverside, CA) opened the scoring with a solo homer in the bottom of the first, but the Golden Tigers took the lead with a pair of runs in the second and an individual tally in the third. A pair of homeruns highlighted the five-run inning for Tuskegee.

Kentucky State got three of those runs back in its half of the fifth inning, but TU added a run in the sixth.

The Thorobreds pounded out 10 hits as Zubiate was 3-for-4 with a double, home run, three runs scored and three RBI. Senior Jittaun Thompson (Pomona, CA) was 2-for-3, while sophomore Moana Pinner (Hilo, HI) was 2-for-3 with an RBI.

GAME TWO: TUSKEGEE 11, KENTUCKY STATE 7
For the second time in the doubleheader, a big inning enabled the guests to record the 11-7 win to complete the sweep.

Freshman Katelyn Hurley (Elizabeth, IN) connected on her first-ever homer to knot the game at four in the fourth inning, and Thompson gave Kentucky State the lead with a two-run blast in the fifth inning. The prosperity didn't last long as Tuskegee put a seven-spot on the board in the sixth inning.

Pinner, freshman Olivia Saylor (Lancaster, KY) and Hurley all had two hits for the Thorobreds.

Hurley, 4-2, allowed 11 runs (seven earned) on 11 hits with one strikeout.

Kentucky State (10-14 overall, 3-4 SIAC) looks to even its SIAC record 1 p.m. Sunday, hosting Tuskegee in the final game of the three-game set.