ROME -- The Hawks earned the split with No. 20 Delta State Saturday afternoon to kick off their final homestand of the season.

Ericka Bynum put Shorter (24-16, 15-11) on the board in the top of the first inning of Game 1 when she brought in Kendall Johnson on a ground out. Before adding to it in the third as Tiffany Holland came in on a ground out from Niki Cook, and making it a 3-0 game in the fourth on an RBI double from Dani Lukas to bring in Taylor Ann Oda.

The Lady Statesmen (32-12, 20-6) cut into the lead in the fifth with two runs of their own on a 2 RBI single from Kaitlin Moore for the 3-2 score. But, the Hawks answered in the sixth for a final run on a Savannah Thomas RBI single for the 4-2 victory.

Payton Lippert earned the win, to move to 13-9 on the season. Through five innings of work she allowed two runs – both unearned – on six hits with a walk and three strikeouts. While, Kalei Kimbrell posted her sixth save of the year, pitching the final two innings; allowing no runs or hits with three strikeouts and a walk.

In Game 2 it was again Bynum who put the Hawks on the board as she delivered a 2 RBI double to right field to bring in Kameron Carter and Johnson to make it a 2-0 game in the first inning. Delta State, however, answered with three runs of their own to take the lead – two on a Carah Nunez homerun in second, and one on a Jordan Jones single in the third.

Hannah Draper took the loss, allowing three runs on seven hits through three innings of work. Lippert pitched the final four innings; holding the Lady Statesmen scoreless on two hits with a strikeout.

Cook posted two hits in each game; while Holland added two in the first game and Johnson and Bynum added two in the second. Bynum finished the day with three RBI.

Shorter will close out the home portion of their schedule Sunday afternoon in the final game with Delta State beginning at 1:00pm.