[9/18/03]Porters Chapel lost the opener of the South State tournament in extra innings Wednesday, but responded to win the next two.

The Lady Eagles will play the loser of the Deer Creek-Amite School game on Saturday at 12:40 p.m. at Amite. With a win, PCA will qualify for the state tournament, but a loss will eliminate the Lady Eagles from the tournament.

After losing in six innings to Huntington, 2-1, the Lady Eagles responded with an 11-3 win over Humphreys.

Amy and Annie Beaugh each had two hits and two RBIs in the win, and Betsy Bryan recorded her eighth victory of the season.

In the second win, PCA pitcher Lauren Johnson tied her career-high with 10 strikeouts and scattered two hits in a 5-0 win over Veritas.

Jessica Massey belted two hits and scored a pair of runs, while Annie Beaugh and Lauren Johnson each delivered two hits and Amy Rutledge had a two-RBI triple.

In the first loss, the game was called after the fifth inning because of the Mississippi Private School Association’s 1 hour, 10 minute rule. The game was tied, though, and moved to the sixth inning.

Huntington scored in the top of the sixth, but PCA stranded a runner at third in the bottom of the inning.