CONWAY, S.C. - An eight-run first inning proved to be too much for Pittsburgh to overcome as the Saint Joseph's softball team topped the Panthers, 8-6, in the final game of the Chanticleer Showdown on Sunday.

Sunday's win avenged a loss to Pittsburgh on Friday as the Hawks capped the three-day tournament with a 4-1 mark to improve to 6-4 on the season.

Pittsburgh opened the game with its bats quickly putting the Panthers ahead as they scored five runs on six hits and took advantage of a Hawk error to jump out to a 5-0 lead.

The Hawks answered though in the bottom half of the first scoring eight times to take an 8-5 lead. After back-to-back hit batters to start the inning, Sarah Ostaszewski tripled to score Amanda Kulp and Molly Kapala. Following a walk to Caela Abadie, Taryn Grober singled home Ostaszewski to make it 5-3.

Grober would come around to score on a single by Lauren Reilly, with Jancarla Herrera walking with the bases loaded, allowing Stacey Mayer to score to tie the game at 5-5.

Herrera and Reilly scored later in the inning on a misplayed a ball hit by Kulp, while the Kapala scored her second run of the inning on a RBI single by Ostaszewski to make it 8-5.

Pittsburgh led off the top of the second with a solo home run against SJU's Ashley Ventura who entered in relief. Despite the home run, Ventura shutdown the Panthers from there, holding them scoreless from there to preserve the win. Ventura improved to 2-3 on the year after allowing just one run over six innings, while striking out three.

At the plate, Ostaszewski finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs to lead the Hawks. 

Saint Joseph's is back in action on March 9 at the Under Armour Showcase.

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