HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The Columbia College softball team's postseason run came to a close on Tuesday in a hard-fought 12-inning battle, falling to No. 18 Coastal Georgia, 3-2, at the Hattiesburg Bracket of the 2026 NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Round. The loss eliminates the Cougars from the tournament.
Ella Schouten went the distance for Columbia, working all 11.2 innings and striking out 13 on 202 pitches while allowing just two earned runs against one of the bracket's top offenses. The graduate pitcher kept the Cougars in front for the majority of the contest and gave Columbia every chance to come away with a win.
The Cougars jumped out to an early 2-0 lead thanks to opportunistic baserunning. In the first, Abigail Zismer singled and Taryn Hagardt moved her up with a sacrifice bunt before a fielder's choice and a Coastal Georgia error plated Zismer for the opening run. Columbia doubled the lead in the second when Layla Underwood reached on an error, Kylee Page drew a walk, and Eleanor Schudel dropped down a bunt single to score Underwood on a pitcher's miscue. The Cougars held that advantage all the way through the fifth.
Coastal Georgia chipped away with a sacrifice fly in the sixth and an RBI single in the seventh to knot it at 2-2, and both teams traded zeros from there. Columbia put runners in scoring position in the 10th and 11th — Underwood singled and advanced to third in the 11th before being left stranded — and in the 12th, Zismer and Hagardt singled back-to-back to put runners at second and third with one out, only for the rally to fall short.
Coastal Georgia ended it in the bottom of the 12th when a leadoff error put a runner aboard, and a walk-off sacrifice fly to right brought home the decisive run.
Underwood led the offense with a 3-for-5 effort, while Zismer and Hagardt each posted multi-hit games going 2-for-6 and 2-for-5, respectively. Schneider added two hits and a pair of sacrifice bunts as Columbia finished with 10 hits on the afternoon. The Cougars finish the season at 27-15, concluding their 25th appearance in program history in the NAIA National Tournament.
Statistical Leaders: Coastal Georgia def. CC, 3-2 (12 inn.) — 2026 NAIA Opening Round, Game 4
- Layla Underwood paced the offense going 3-for-5 with a run scored
- Abigail Zismer and Taryn Hagardt each had multi-hit games; both singled in the 12th to put the tying run at third with one out
- Rosalie Schneider went 2-for-5 with two sacrifice bunts to move runners into scoring position
- Eleanor Schudel delivered the bunt single in the second inning that plated Columbia's second run
- Columbia finished with 10 hits and stranded 12 runners across 12 innings
- Pitching
