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COLUMBUS – On a dramatic day at the ballpark, the Columbus State University softball team lost a pair of games against second-ranked North Georgia on Tuesday. The Peach Belt Conference doubleheader was played at Cougar Field.
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Columbus State (14-9, 2-2 PBC) fell 3-2 in the opening game before pushing the Nighthawks the extra innings in a 7-4 loss in game two.
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"There's a lot of positives to take away from today," head coach
Brad Huskisson said. "We're not happy with the losses, but I thought we saw a good things from our hitters and pitchers."
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The Lady Cougars will play their next three doubleheaders away from home, starting with Sunday at Augusta. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
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Game One
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Tuesday's opener belonged to the pitchers as neither side had a hit through the first three innings.
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North Georgia (28-1, 2-0) finally broke through with a solo homer in the fourth and added two more runs later in the inning.
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CSU got on the board in the bottom of the sixth as
McKenzie Fagioli worked an eight-pitch at-bat and lined a RBI single into centerfield.
 The Lady Cougars then cut the deficit to just one on a leadoff homer from
JoJo Beyer in the seventh and
Kristin Studds doubled with one down to put the tying run in scoring position. However, the next two hitters struck out to give UNG the opening game.
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Darby Demarest (7-4) went the distance for the Lady Cougars, allowing the three runs on just three hits.
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Game Two
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The Nighthawks held a 4-0 lead through five innings of the nightcap, but CSU had some late-inning drama brewing.
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Lee Anne Rees laced a single into right field to drive home a run in the sixth that cut the deficit to three.
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Columbus State then got two straight walks to start the seventh bringing the tying run to the plate.
Calli Star then belted her fourth home run of the season to tie the game at four and force extra innings.
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However, North Georgia put three runs across in the eighth and the Lady Cougars had no answer in the bottom half.
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