COLUMBUS, Ga. — The Lee University Lady Flames softball team allowed five unearned runs in the first inning and struggled to mount a comeback, falling to Belhaven University 7-1 in the first round of the Southern States Athletic Conference tournament.
The Blazers added another pair of runs in the second before Lee got on the board in the bottom of the inning on a solo home run by Charlie Wooden. Both sides went quiet for the remaining five innings as Lee dropped the upset loss.
Brittany Balough (24-3) started and worked the complete game for Lee (46-9) allowing just one earned run on 11 hits. The senior all-conference team member struck out five and walked three.
Ana Coscorrosa joined Wooden with one extra-base hit, drilling a double in four trips to the plate. Jennifer Ringle and Dominique Hannah each added singles and walked twice. The Lady Flames left 11 runners on base with the Blazers stranding 10. Lee committed four field miscues in the loss.
For Belhaven (25-22), Jessica Paris and Chelsea Randle each had a pair of hits with Randle tallying a pair of RBIs. Paris threw four innings to move to 10-8 while allowing one run on three hits. Shelby Watson worked three scoreless innings to earn her second save of the season.
The 10th-ranked Lady Flames have a long road to battle back into the double-elimination tournament, starting with Friday’s contest at 2 p.m. The Lady Flames will take on the winner of Emmanuel College and Shorter University.
