JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Savannah State pieced together an eight-run inning over Jacksonville University's softball team in the finale of the Dolphin Classic.  The good news for JU – none of the runs were earned. The bad news – errors continue to plague the Dolphins in their young season.

Luckily for JU there wasn't much harm as the team held on to defeat the Tigers 12-8 on Sunday evening.

Allie McCourt took her time in her first at bat. In front of her was a Dolphin occupying each base with no outs on the board. Practicing patience at the plate, McCourt drew the walk to bring Ashley Simon home for JU's first run.

Next in batting order, Danielle Baker sent the ball to center field for a sacrifice fly to plate another run before Brooke Hardy scored on a passed ball. Before the inning was over, the Dolphins held a 5-0 lead.

Emily Sanchez and Kristen Griffith each tallied a two-run home run, one to center and the other to left, respectively, to stretch the Dolphins' lead to 9-0 in the fourth. Griffith's shot marked her first in a JU uniform as she went on to finish the game 2-for-4 with three runs and a pair of RBIs.  

In four innings pitched, Taylor Rossman nearly managed a clean sheet, yielding just one hit, a single, in the third. After the Tigers' leadoff batter flied out to center field, the next batter walked and the one following reached on a fielding error. With one out and a runner on first and second, SSU's Alexis Singleton recorded a single to load the bases.

Another fielding error allowed a runner to score to spark the Tigers' comeback. Savannah State recorded three home runs in the fifth, highlighted by a grand slam, to pull within one, 9-8.

The Dolphins tacked on a run in the fifth on a Simon sacrifice fly, earned three straight outs in the sixth and were given a little more cushion on a Sanchez two-run homer to officially close the door.  

Five Dolphins concluded the game with multiple hits in Simon, Sanchez, Griffith, Lexie Ballard and Victoria Brown as Jacksonville outhit the Tigers, 15-6.

The Fins return to action at the Debbie & Fred Pruitt Softball Complex on Tuesday, March 3 to take on St. Francis (Pa.) at 4 p.m.