Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Columbia, Mo. – The Columbia College softball earned a pair of wins this afternoon in the American Midwest Conference (AMC) Postseason Tournament. The Cougars beat the No. 3 seed Lyon College 6-3 in the first round of play and defeated the No. 7 seed Missouri Baptist University 4-0 in the quarterfinal round to advance to the tournament semifinals. Columbia, the tournament's No. 6 seed after finishing 16-8 in league play during the regular season, improves to 27-16 with the win.

Sophomore Carly Spalding got Columbia off to a quick start with a single to left field and would come around to score on a sacrifice fly by freshman Allyson Metz. In the second inning, Jessica Hardy led off with double to deep left field and Samantha Davis singled to center to score pinch runner Rachel Sullivan. Kaylee Brueggeman followed with a double down the left field line to score Davis to give the Cougars a 3-1 advantage. Columbia would add to their lead with one run in the third inning as Tylin Stephens singled to right-center and scored on a sacrifice fly by Hardy.

The Cougars scored their last two runs at the top of the sixth inning on four hits. Julianna Waldner singled to center to begin the inning and advanced to second on a bunt base hit by Brittiany Tjarks. Davis then roped a double to deep left-center to score Waldner. Brueggeman drew a walk to load the bases and Spalding followed with a deep fly ball to left-center to score Tjarks for a 6-0 lead. After holding Lyon scoreless for six straight innings, the Scots were able to cut the Cougar lead in half as they scored three runs thanks to two Columbia errors and three hits, but the Cougars were able to hold on for the victory.

Starting pitcher Paxton Welch didn't allow a single earned run over seven innings to pick up the complete game win in the circle for Columbia. The sophomore hurler gave up five hits and struck out four batters to earn her 13^th win of the year. Stephens went 3 for 4 while Taylor Atwood and Davis each went 2 for 3 to lead the Cougars, who finished with 12 hits.

In game two, the Cougars jumped on top early once again as Metz doubled to deep right-center and scored on an RBI single by Atwood in the top of the first inning. Columbia plated another run in the third inning as Hardy singled to right-center and eventually scored on a wild throw from the outfield. After a scoreless fourth, fifth, and sixth inning, Columbia extended their lead with two runs in the seventh. Stephens singled to left-center and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Metz. Atwood then singled to left and Stephens moved to third to put runners on the corners. Hardy followed with a shot to deep right-center to give Stephens the opportunity to tag up and score. The next at bat, Waldner singled to score pinch runner Dakota Newton to give the Cougars the 4-0 advantage. The Spartans needed a rally in the bottom of the frame, but starting pitcher Paxton Welch caused two popups and a strikeout to end the game.

Welch earned the win in the circle for the Cougars after shutting out the Spartans in seven innings. She allowed just four hits, struck out one, and didn't walk a single batter. Hardy went 3 for 4 with two RBI to lead the offensive efforts while Atwood and Metz chipped in two hits apiece.

Members of the AMC All-Academic Team were recognized prior to the start of the first game. Representatives from Columbia included Lauren McCroskie, Paige Kleffner, Brittiany Tjarks, Allyson Metz, Tiffany Urwiler, Taylor Atwood, Rachel Sullivan, Maria Imhoff, Jessica Hardy, Julianna Waldner, Paxton Welch, and Kaylee Brueggeman.

The Cougars advance to the semifinal round of the AMC tournament and will take on the No. 1 seed Lindenwood University-Belleville tomorrow, April 30^th.  First pitch is set for 11:00 pm at Antimi Black Field in Columbia.