It was a tough Opening Day for the Clark Atlanta University Panthers baseball team as they mustered only four hits and struck out 13 times in losing 19-0 to Savannah State Friday at Bill Evans Field.

The Panthers (0-1) were on the field for the first time since March 2020 when Covid-19 concerns shut down athletic programs across the country. 

Savannah State (4-2) got back on the winning side after dropping a doubleheader at Edward Waters on Tuesday after sweeping three games from Voorhies College to start the season.  The Tigers averaged nearly 15 runs per game in those three games with Voorhees.

Friday, SSU jumped out to a 4-0 lead after two innings, but only on one hit.  They had three steals, a batter was hit by a pitch and CAU's Jorden Dixon added a wild pitch in the first inning when SSU scored two runs.  In the second, Dixon walked a batter and hit another batter while SSU added two more steals in the inning and got two more runs without a hit.

Dixon had a rough outing, giving up eight runs on five hits, four walks and two hit batsmen in 3 2/3 innings of work.

Savannah State didn't look back, scoring runs in every inning except the fifth, with multiple-run innings in six of the game's nine innings.  Four SSU pitchers combined to hold CAU to four hits on the day, with starter Christian Harkey going five innings to get the win.

Clark Atlanta's Eason Bing had a strong day at the play, going 2-for-3 on two singles.  The Panthers also got hits from Lorenzo Peterson and Khalil Manuel.

The two teams are back on the field Saturday for a doubleheader at Bill Evans Field beginning at 2 p.m.