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By: Stephen Williams

HARTSVILLE, S.C. – The Columbus State University softball team lost a pair of tough decisions on Sunday to close out the 2017 Coker Invitational. The tournament was played at Byerly Park in Hartsville, S.C.
 
Columbus State (9-8-1) fell 9-7 in eight innings to Coker in Sunday's opener before a 7-6 loss against Pfeiffer in game two.
 
"We had our chances today," head coach Brad Huskisson said. "We led late in both games and just didn't play well enough in the final innings. Good teams will make you pay when you give them extra chances, and that definitely happened today."
 
After eight straight games on the road, the Lady Cougars will return home for the 2017 CSU Classic. Columbus State will play a pair of games on Friday, taking on Auburn Montgomery and Barry. First pitch is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. at Cougar Field.
 
Game One
 
Things got started off on the right foot on Sunday for the Lady Cougars as they plated a pair of runs in the bottom of the first on a Kayleigh Briant single.
 
Coker cut the lead in half with a solo homer in the second, but CSU answered back in the third thanks to an error by the Cobras. The Lady Cougars took advantage of more sloppy defense from Coker to bring home single runs in the fifth and sixth, taking a 5-3 lead into the seventh inning.
 
Columbus State got within one out of a victory, but consecutive two-out, run-scoring singles sent the game to extra innings.
 
In the eighth, the CSU defense struggled as Coker scored four runs on just one hit.
 
The Lady Cougars made things interesting in the bottom half of the inning. McKenzie Fagioli drove in two runs with a single back up the middle to bring the tying run to the plate. However, a strikeout ended the high-scoring shootout.
 
Helen Snavely (1-2) was hit with the loss, despite not allowing an earned run in her one inning of work. Darby Demarest and Peyton Sorrells combined to throw the first seven for CSU.
 
Fagioli, Kia Smith and Brittany Mitchell were each 2-for-4 to lead the Lady Cougar offense.
 
Game Two
 
Sunday's second game had its share of dramatics as well, as the Lady Cougars found themselves down 3-0 heading to the bottom of the fifth inning.
 
Elizabeth Perdue and Briant singled to start the inning and JoJo Beyer got the Lady Cougars on the board with a bunt single. Mitchell followed with a run-scoring single of her own and two more runs came home on a misplay in the outfield.
 
Keeli Waugh and Fagioli kept the scoring going with RBI singles. In total, CSU scored six runs on six hits and doubled up the Falcons.
 
The lead was short-lived though, as Pfeiffer tied the game with one swing on a three-run home run in the sixth.
 
With the game tied at six, a leadoff homer in the seventh proved to be the difference in the game for the Falcons.
 
Sydney Barker (1-1) allowed a run on three hits in her one inning of work and was saddled with the loss.
 
CSU had eight hits in the game from seven different players. Fagioli turned in the lone multi-hit game.