ORLANDO, Fla. – The SIUE softball team opened play at the UCF Holiday Inn Tournament Friday, splitting a pair of games at the UCF Softball Complex.

In the first game of the day, SIUE defeated tournament host UCF 3-2 in eight innings.  It was the Cougars' fifth extra-inning game and seventh one-run contest already this season.

After seven scoreless innings, SIUE broke the deadlock with three runs in the top of the eighth inning.

Freshman Allison Smiley delivered a two-out, two-RBI single that plated Chelsea Yankolovich and Brittany Toney.  Smiley now has a team-leading nine RBIs on the year.

"We played upbeat the whole game," Smiley said.  "It was just a matter of time before we broke out and put some hits together, and we came through at the end."

Two batters later, Haley Chambers added an RBI single of her own as pinch runner Marissa Modglin scored what turned out to be the deciding run.

"I was happy with our composure and our poise to finish the game," Head Coach Sandy Montgomery said.  "Allison came up with a huge at-bat with two outs.  We were able to get it done as a team." 

Senior Erin Greenwalt threw a complete game in the circle for the Cougars, allowing two runs, one earned, on five hits while posting a season-high nine strikeouts.

"This was a very important win for us," Greenwalt said.  "I knew I had to have a strong mentality to pitch well and have a top performance."

The Knights (9-6) scored two runs of their own in the bottom half of the eighth inning, but Greenwalt limited the damage to seal the win for SIUE. 

"Erin threw very well," Montgomery said.  "She had great command today.  We knew we had to get outs at the end, and Erin stepped up and really did a nice job."

Later in the day, the Cougars fell 4-1 to College of Charleston.

Charleston (8-7) put up all four of its runs in the second inning, capped off by a two-RBI single from Carly Corthell.

"We had an error and two batters hit by a pitch.  You can't do those things and expect to win ballgames," Montgomery said. 

Rachel Coonrod got a run back for SIUE in the bottom of the fourth inning, sending an RBI single up the middle to score Rebecca Gray.

Haley Chambers pitched all seven innings against Charleston, allowing four runs, all unearned, on three hits.  The sophomore's seven strikeouts is her second-highest total for the season.

"We just have to keep working," Montgomery said.  "I thought we hit the ball a lot better today, but we have to continue to clean some things up."

SIUE will be back in action with two games Saturday in Orlando.  The Cougars take on Stetson at 5 p.m. before a rematch with UCF at 7 p.m.