Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Columbia, Mo. - The Cougar Softball team split a conference doubleheader with AMC foe William Woods University on Thursday afternoon, falling 4-0 in game one before bouncing back to win game two by a score of 3-2. Columbia moves to 10-7 on the season and 5-1 in league play with the split.

After a scoreless first inning in game one, the Owls picked up a run in the second with the help of three walks and a base hit against Cougars starter Lauren McCroskie. William Woods would add another run in the fourth against reliever Paxton Welch as Hannah Campbell delivered a two-out to score Brittany Bexton. The Owls plated two more runs in the top of the sixth for a 4-0 lead, more than enough support for starter MacKenzie Bowden, who struck out 12 and allowed just three hits in the complete game win.

McCroskie took the loss in the circle for Columbia after allowing one run in just 1.2 innings. Carly Spalding, Marli Hayes, and Brittiany Tjarks had the Cougar's three hits in the contest.

William Woods jumped out to another early lead in game two on a two-out RBI single by Lindsey LeCuru in the bottom of the first. Columbia evened the score in the top of the third inning on an RBI bunt single by Hayes, but the Owls responded in the bottom of the frame as LeCuru came through with another two-out hit to bring home Kacey Scharnhorst. The Cougars answered right back in the fourth with a lead-off single by Whitni Howell followed by an RBI double to left by Tjarks to tie the score at 2-2. Columbia took their first lead of the day in the fifth as Carly Spalding singled to right to start the inning and came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Taylor Atwood for a 3-2 lead. The Cougars were held hitless over the final two innings, but starting pitcher Taylor Richter was able to keep the Owls off the board to preserve the victory.

Richter allowed two runs on four hits and struck out five in seven innings to earn the complete game win. The Columbia offense finished with six hits in the game.

The Cougars will face Embry-Riddle (Fla.) University in their next game on Monday, March 24^th in Daytona Beach, Fla.