Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 | Box Score 3 Fort Worth, Texas – The Columbia College softball team was back in action today as they opened the season with a triple header in the 2017 Cowtown Classic held in Fort Worth, Texas. The Cougars, who went 29-21 last season, were defeated by Oklahoma City University in their first game but won each of their next two games against Concordia (Neb.) University and Texas Wesleyan University to start the year with a 2-1 record.

In the first game of the day, the Cougars took on top ranked, and defending national champion, Oklahoma City University and were defeated by a final score of 2-0. Columbia College had a tough time getting anything going in the game as the Stars held them to just two hits in the contest. Paxton Welch pitched all seven innings for the Cougars allowing just four hits and one earned run while striking out five in the game.

Columbia College faced off against Concordia (Neb.) University in the second game of the day and were able to pick up their first win of the season with a 7-4 victory. The Cougars got off to a quick start in the game scoring two runs in the first inning after Molly Carter hit a two run home run scoring Theresa DeCosty. Columbia College didn't score in the second or third inning but added five runs in the final four innings and shut down the Bulldogs down the final stretch to improve to 1-1 on the season. Lauren McCroskie was the winning pitcher for the Cougars as she went 4.1 innings allowing just six hits and one earned run in the contest. In addition to McCroskie, Theresa DeCosty went 3-5 with an RBI and Rachel Sullivan went 2-3 with two RBI's to round out the top performers for Columbia.

The Cougars were able to carry their momentum from the second game over into the third game and defeated Texas Wesleyan University by a final score of 9-7. Columbia's bats were rolling to start the game as the Cougars were able to jump out to an early 9-1 lead through four innings of play. However, the Rams battled back in the contest and scored six runs over the next two innings to cut Columbia's lead down to two, but that was as close as they would get as Paxton Welch shutout the Rams in the seventh inning to solidify the Cougars second win of the day. Kaitlyn Nottelmann was the winning pitcher for Columbia College as she went five innings allowing seven hits and five earned runs. Carly Spalding led the team offensively as she went 2-4 with four RBI's and a run scored.

The Cougars are back in action tomorrow morning when they take on Sterling (Kan.) College and Tabor (Kan.) College on the second day of the 2017 Cowtown Classic. Columbia will kick off their double-header at 9 a.m. against Sterling (Kan.) College followed by an 11 a.m. start for their game against Tabor.