Clermont, Fla. – Today the second seeded Columbia College softball team was back in action when they took on LSU-Alexandria (La.) in the 2017 NAIA Softball World Series. The Cougars, who came into this game with a 2-1 record in the double elimination tournament, were defeated by the Generals by a final score of 6-4. With the loss, Columbia College has been eliminated from the NAIA World Series.

The Cougars got off to a tough start in the game as the Generals were able to score four runs through the first two innings to take an early 4-0 lead in the contest. Columbia College struggled to get anything going to start the game but their offense came alive with two outs in the bottom of the second as Julianna Waldner was able to reach on a base hit and then later came around to score on an RBI single from Rachel Sullivan to cut the Generals lead to 4-1.

LSU Alexandria continued to put the ball in play as the game progressed and were able to add to their lead in the top of the fourth inning and held a 5-1 lead through four innings of play. Following a rain delay that suspended the game until Thursday, LSU Alexandria added one final run in the top of the sixth inning and took a 6-1 lead into the seventh. The Cougars made one final push in the bottom of the seventh inning and were able to rally for three runs in the frame but it was not enough as LSU Alexandria picked up the final outs of the contest to eliminate Columbia College from the 2017 NAIA World Series.

Paxton Welch (23-5) was the starting pitcher for Columbia as the senior struck out one batter while allowing three hits and three earned runs in 1.1 innings in the circle. Lauren McCroskie (22-2) came in to relieve Welch in the second inning and struck out three batters while allowing just one earned run on six hits in 4.1 innings of work. Following McCroskie, Kaitlyn Nottelmann (2-0) came in to pitch the final 1.1 innings as the freshman struck out one batter while allowing just one hit and no earned runs in her 13^th appearance of the season.

Offensively, the Cougars were limited to nine hits in the ballgame. They were led by Allyson Metz who went 2-4 with an RBI, Carly Spalding who was 2-4, Molly Carter who went 1-2 with two RBI's, and Rachel Sullivan who went 1-2 with an RBI.

This marks the end of the 2017 softball season for the Cougars. They ended the year with a 48-7 record and finished in fourth place in the 2017 NAIA Softball World Series which marks the best finish for Columbia College in the NAIA Softball World Series.