Koala Softball Splits Series at Bluefield

COLUMBIA, S.C. - The Columbia College softball team split their series on the road at AAC foe Bluefield College in the Virginia mountains on Sunday afternoon. CC won game one 9-5, but fell 3-1 in game two.

Game 1

The Koalas got out to a big lead in game one going  up 5-0 after 3 and 1/2 innings on 1B Kylie Smith's RBI single in the first, outfielder Ruthie Roman's two-run homer in the 3rd, outfielder Hope Azurdia's sac fly and Smith's second run-scoring single. Bluefield then made a rally in the 4th off senior pitcher Meghan Dennis to score 4 runs and get to within 5-4 after four frames. The Koalas added four insurance runs in the 5th, however, to lead 9-4. They had Mary-Catherine Sanders' RBI single, and a two-run double from senior catcher Katie Poole. BU added a run in the 8th on a walk from reliever Kynsly Gehling, but fellow reliever Bailey Strickland struck out the final two batters for the win.

Dennis threw 5 innings to get the win allowing 4 runs on 8 hits with a walk and 3 strikeouts.  Smith led the Koalas with 3 hits and 2 RBIs while Poole had two hits as well. 3B Aislyn Sharp also reached base three times via a single and two walks.

Game 2

 The second game featured a pitcher's duel between Bluefield's Ali Glover and Columbia's Kylie Smith. Glover would get the upperhand, however, throwing all 7 innings allowing just 4 Koala hits and one unearned run while striking out five. Smith threw six innings allowing 3 runs on 4 hits with no walks and 2 strikeouts falling to 8-9.

CC grabbed the lead in the 2nd inning on Sanders' RBI single scoring 1B Aliyah Crawley, who had reached via error to plate CC to an early 1-0 lead. Unfortunately, in the 3rd inning, Bluefield took the lead for good on a three-run homer. The teams would then go scoreless the rest of the way with CC only putting one runner in scoring position when Sharp led off the fifth with a double. Poole and Azurdia also recorded hits in the game. 

The Koalas go to 19-17 overall and 11-9 in the conference while Bluefield falls to 5-19 and 2-14 in the AAC. 

Columbia will next head to Brenau University on Wednesday in Georgia for a 2 PM doubleheader and then head to Laurinburg, NC for a series with St. Andrews on Friday.