Batesville, Ark. – This afternoon the second ranked Columbia College softball team was back in action when they traveled to Batesville, Arkansas, to take on Lyon (Ark.) College in an AMC doubleheader. The Cougars, who came into this game on a three game winning streak, were able to extend their streak to five straight games after defeating the Scots in the first game by a final score of 8-2 and then winning the second game by a final score of 10-2. With the sweep, Columbia improves to 27-4 on the season and 12-0 in conference play.
In their first game against the Scots, the Cougars offense was rolling from the opening inning. Columbia was able to score one run in the first and two runs in the second to take an early 3-0 lead in the game. However, the Scots answered quickly and scored two runs in the bottom of the second to cut Columbia's lead to 3-2 heading into the third. Despite giving up two runs to the Scots, it was all Cougars for the rest of the game. Columbia was able to score two runs in the fourth, one run in the fifth and two runs in the sixth to solidify their 11
th conference win of the season.
Paxton Welch was in the circle for the Cougars in this one as she allowed just five hits and two earned runs in seven innings of work. Offensively, the Cougars were led by
Rachel Sullivan who went 4-4 with two RBI's and
Karli Leeper who went 3-3 with a run scored and an RBI.
Columbia College was able to carry over their momentum from the first game into the second game and got on the board in the top of the first inning when
Allyson Metz hit a sacrifice fly that scored
Carly Spalding from third. The Scots responded quickly and tied the game in the bottom of the second inning but back-to-back three run innings from the Cougars propelled Columbia to a 7-1 lead heading into the bottom of the fourth. Lyon answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the fourth to cut the Cougars lead to 7-2 but ultimately Columbia would score three runs in the final two innings to capture their fifth straight win.
Lauren McCroskie was in the circle for the Cougars in this game allowing eight hits and two earned runs in six innings of work. In addition,
Molly Carter went 2-3 with three RBI's and
Alexandra Linck went 3-4 with two RBI's to lead Columbia at the plate.
The Cougars are back in action tomorrow, April 8
th when they travel to Conway, Arkansas, to take on Central Baptist (Ark.) College in an AMC doubleheader. The first game of the doubleheader is set to start at 1 p.m. with the second game to follow.
