Kenzie Fish got the Lady Cougars off and running with an RBI single in the visitors’ very first at bat. Cleveland State tacked on five more runs in the fourth when Sara Goza knocked in a run and Heather Lynn doubled in two more. Another two runs crossed on Lady Bear miscues giving CSCC a 6-0 lead.
The error bug hit the Lady Cougars in the bottom of the fourth. Emily Powers singled in two runs and three errors allowed all three runs to score with the home team cutting the lead in half, 6-3.
The Lady Cougars mounted a two-out rally and batted through their lineup twice, scoring 15 times, all with two outs. Casey Griffin doubled, singled and knocked in four runs. Maura Ditto and Ashlen Mitchell had two doubles each, Goza, Lynn and Fish and Shelby Hanson all joined the hit parade getting an RBI single each. When the dust settled, the Lady Cougars were on top 21-3.
Meghan Smith got the win in allowing only five hits, no earned runs and gathering six strikeouts while Courtney Lyons took the loss.
“We scored first today and that’s what we need to do, we are 10-1 when we score first,” explained Lady Cougars softball coach Katie Willingham. “We really hit the ball well today, we made too many errors, but Meghan and Kenly did a good job on the mound and we got two badly needed wins.”
Sydney Howell singled in a run in the top of the first in game two to give Cleveland State a 1-0 lead. Truett-McConnell took its first lead of the afternoon in the bottom of the fourth when the Lady Cougars kicked the ball around for three errors resulting in two runs and a 2-1 Lady Bears’ lead.
The Lady Cougars’ sticks remained quiet until their last at bat in the seventh inning. A pair of errors put the visitors in business and loaded the bases. A perfectly executed suicide squeeze bunt by Fish tied the game and opened the floodgates for a Cleveland State comeback.
With the bases still full of Lady Cougars, Howell unloaded them with a triple and Cleveland State jumped back on top for good. The Lady Bears mounted a rally of their own in the bottom of the seventh, scoring a run on another error. But the fire was finally extinguished and the Lady Cougars finished off the win and the sweep of the twin bill.
Kenly Lambert went the distance to get the win for the Lady Cougars (19-17) scattering seven hits and allowing no earned runs. Ashley Davis suffered the loss for Truett-McConnell.
The Lady Cougars will travel to Volunteer State Saturday for a pair of key Region VII Conference games.
