Azurdia's Home Run Leads Koalas to Sweep of Paine

COLUMBIA, S.C. - The Columbia College softball team used timely hitting and clutch pitching to sweep away non-conference foe Paine College 4-0 and 4-3 from the Sutton Complex on Wednesday afternoon.

In game one, The Koalas were clinging to a one-run lead when sophomore outfielder Hope Azurdia crushed a three-run homer in the 5th to put the Lady Koalas up 4-0.

Columbia scored their first run in the 2nd inning when 1B Aliyah Crawley and DH Madison Knapper drew back to back walks before Crawley came around to score on an error by the Paine 2B on senior Brooklyn Franco's batted ball. In the 5th, Franco drew a leadoff walk before senior 3B Aislyn Sharp's sacrifice moved Franco to second. A single from CF M.C. Sanders pushed Franco to third right before Azurdia's mammoth home run. The homer was Azurdia's 5th of the season as she increased her average to .290 with 12 RBIs, 7 SBs and 20 runs scored.

Senior starter Meghan Dennis threw two shutout innings with a strikeout before reliever Bailey Strickland (2-0) came on and threw the final five frames allowing zero runs on 5 hits with no walks and a strikeout. She worked out of trouble in the 7th stranding runners at 2nd and 3rd with one out to pick up the win.

Game two featured six errors committed by Paine (12-12) whoich led to all four runs scored by the Koalas in the 2nd and 4th innings. Senior pitcher Paige Branham (1-0, 2.63 ERA) picked up the win throwing 6 innings allowing 3 runs on 9 hits with a strikeout before Kynsly Gehling came on in the 7th to pick up her first save with a scoreless frame.

Crawley led the offense in game two with two hits and two runs scored while Sharp, Knapper, and Taryn Martin all drove in runs. Crawley scored the first run for CC in the 2nd scoring on an error after her leadoff double. Columbia then sent 8 ladies to the plate in the 4th inning to score 3 runs on 3 Lion errors. A leadoff single from SS Skyler Monson saw her advance to third on a wild pitch and Crawley's single before scoring on an error. Martin then reached via error with runners on 2nd and third which brought home Crawley before another error three batters later saw Knapper trot home.

Columbia improves to 18-16 on the season with their 4th straight win and will next head on the road to Bluefield, VA to battle the Lady Rams in a chilly DH on Saturday at 1 and 3 PM.