Belleville, Ill. –The 15^th ranked Columbia College softball team was back in action when they traveled to Belleville, Illinois to take on the Lindenwood University-Belleville Lynx in an AMC doubleheader. The Cougars won the first game by a score of 14-10 and the second game by a final score of 10-5 to move to 18-9 on the season and 11-1 in conference play.

Prior to the game, the third regular-season installment of the 2018 NAIA Softball Coaches' Top 25 Poll was announced by the national office. The Cougars who ranked eighth in the previous poll, dropped in at 15^th in the latest poll.

In the first game, the Lynx took a 5-1 lead after one inning and held an 8-2 lead after three, but the Cougars did not shy away. Columbia would rattle off five runs in the top of the fourth and give up just one in the bottom of the inning to trail 9-7 heading into the fifth. Each team would go scoreless in the fifth, but in the sixth the Cougars would score six runs including a three run homerun from Olivia Denslow to put Columbia on top 13-9 midway through the inning. The Cougars were able to hold the Lynx off down the stretch to secure a 14-10 victory in game one.

Lexi Dickerson started on the mound as she allowed six hits, two earned runs, and struck out two batters in 2.2 innings. Reagen Radke was the winning pitcher as she relieved Dickerson, and gave up just three hits, two earned runs, and struck out two batters in 4.1 innings. Offensively, Julianna Waldner went 2-4 with three runs scored and two RBI's, Alexandra Linck was 2-4 with one run scored and two RBI's, Allyson Metz went 3-5 with one run scored and five RBI's, Natalie Dummitt was 2-4 with two runs scored, Olivia Denslow went 1-2 with one run scored and three RBI's, and Rachel Sullivan went 1-4 with three runs scored.

In the second game of the doubleheader, the Cougars used their momentum to score five runs in the second and five more in the third. After three innings of play, Columbia led 10-3 over the Lynx. As the game progressed each team would be held scoreless until the Lynx scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh, but the Cougars had done enough work early to lock in a 10-5 win to get the sweep over the Lynx.

Kaitlyn Nottelmann was the winning pitcher as she allowed just seven hits and five earned runs while striking out seven batters in seven innings in the circle. Three Cougars had homeruns including Alexandra Linck, Karli Leeper, and Olivia Denslow. Sullivan went 2-5 with two runs scored and one RBI, Linck was 1-2 with one run scored and three RBI's, Leeper was 1-4 with one run scored and one RBI, Denslow went 1-3 with one run scored and one RBI, Allison Keen went 2-3 with one run scored and one RBI, and Samantha Myers went 1-3 with one run scored.  

The Cougars are back in action tomorrow, April 11^th when they host the Harris-Stowe State University Hornets in an AMC doubleheader. The first game of the doubleheader is set to start at 2:00 p.m. with the second game to follow.