Columbia, Mo. – This afternoon the third ranked Columbia College softball team was back in action when they played host to the Lyon (ark.) College Scots in an AMC Quarterfinal doubleheader. The Cougars, who earned the top seed in the AMC Championships after finishing conference play with a 23-1 record, were able to sweep the Scots after winning the first game by a final score of 6-3 and the second game by a final score of 8-3. With the sweep, Columbia College will advance to the final site of the AMC Championships in Henderson, Tennessee.
Prior to the doubleheader, the AMC announced the Academic All-Conference team and the Champions of Character team for the 2017 season. To be eligible for Academic All-Conference honors, student-athletes must be in their second semester at their AMC institution and have at least a 3.0 GPA. For their efforts in the classroom,
Molly Carter,
Theresa DeCosty,
Olivia Denslow,
Natalie Dummitt,
Karli Leeper,
Alexandra Linck,
Lauren McCroskie,
Allyson Metz,
Charryl Moody,
Samantha Myers,
Ashley Playle,
Elizabeth Schimpf,
Rachel Sullivan,
Julianna Waldner, and
Paxton Welch were all recognized as AMC Academic All-Conference. In addition,
Rachel Sullivan was also named to the AMC Champions of Character team for her representation of the five core values of the NAIA Champions of Character initiative.
In their first game against the Scots, the Cougars were able to put together seven hits in the 6-3 come from behind victory.
Molly Carter got the offense going for Columbia in the first game as she hit a two out single in the bottom of the first and later came around to score on a two run homerun from
Allyson Metz to give the Cougars an early 2-0 lead. Lyon College responded quickly to Columbia's run in the top of the second inning and were able to rally for three runs in the frame to take a 3-2 lead in the ballgame. The Cougars had a tough time getting anything going over the next few innings but an
Allyson Metz grand slam in the bottom of the fifth inning proved to the difference as Columbia was able to close out the Scots down the final stretch and claimed their 10
th straight win.
Paxton Welch (17-4) was in the circle for the Cougars in this one as she struck out two batters while allowing just two hits and one earned run in her 15
th complete game of the season. Offensively, the Cougars were led by
Allyson Metz who went 2-3 with six RBI's and
Rachel Sullivan who went 3-3 with a run scored.
In their second game against the Scots, Columbia was able to string together 15 hits in their series clinching win. The Cougars, who were the away team in this game, got on the scoreboard first as they scored a run in the top of the second inning to take an early 1-0 lead. Lyon College answered quickly and scored three runs in the bottom of the frame to take a 3-1 lead into the third. However, that was all the offense the Scots would get as Columbia shut them down for the rest of the game and scored four runs in the third, two runs in the fourth, and a run in the sixth to solidify their spot in Henderson, Tennessee.
Lauren McCroskie (20-1) was the starting pitcher in this game as she struck out one batter while allowing seven hits and no earned runs in her 17
th complete game of the season. In addition,
Molly Carter went 2-3 with two RBI's and
Natalie Dummitt went 3-4 with a run scored to lead Columbia at the plate.
The Cougars have solidified a spot in the AMC Championships final site and will travel to Henderson, Tennessee, to compete in the double elimination tournament. Columbia will play their first game at 10 a.m. on Thursday, May 4
th and will play a second game later in the day.
