Like Columbus State Athletics on Facebook!
Tweet #GoCSU

AMERICUS, Ga. – In its first Peach Belt Conference action of the season, the Columbus State University softball team picked up a pair of wins over Georgia Southwestern. The doubleheader was played in Americus.
 
Columbus State (14-7, 2-0 PBC) needed just five innings for a 15-0 blowout victory in game one, before a come-from-behind 9-5 win to cap of the night.
 
"This is exactly the way we wanted to start conference play," head coach Brad Huskisson said. "Our bats were great all night and we pitched really well outside of one inning."
 
The Lady Cougars will play their first home PBC games on Monday against second-ranked North Georgia. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Cougar Field.
 
Game One
 
It was an offensive explosion in game one for the Lady Cougars, with 10 runs over the first two innings.
 
Keeli Waugh set the tone for the day with a leadoff home run, her fourth of the season. Calli Star made it a 2-0 lead with a run-scoring groundout and Kirstin Reynolds doubled the advantage with a two-run single.
 
The scoring kept going in the second, as Elizabeth Perdue doubled home two and Star followed with a single that scored two more. Later in the inning, Lee Anne Rees singled with the bases loaded to bring two more across the plate.
 
CSU got a little help in the third with a throwing error allowing two more to touch home, and Perdue and Star each added another RBI in the fourth to cap the scoring.
 
While the offense was rolling, Darby Demarest (7-3) twirling five scoreless innings in the circle. The junior allowed just four hits and struck out five.
 
Star was 3-for-4 in the game with four RBIs and three runs scored. Four other Lady Cougars finished with two hits.
 
Game Two
 
It looked like much of the same in the nightcap with the CSU offense going back to work in the first.
 
McKenzie Fagioli doubled home Kia Smith to plate the opening run just three batters into the game, and another GSW miscue allowed another run to score.
 
Smith upped the edge to 3-0 in the second with a RBI triple as part of a perfect second game at the plate.
 
Georgia Southwestern (10-11, 0-2) flipped the game upside down in the bottom half of the second however. The Lady Canes plated five runs and held a 5-3 lead for the next three innings.
 
In the fifth, the two-run deficit was cut in half behind a wild pitch that scored Perdue. Rees then gave the Lady Cougars the lead with a two-run double and Smith tacked on an insurance run with a RBI single.
 
CSU would add an extra pair of runs in the seventh via consecutive walks with the bases loaded.
 
Helen Snavely started the game for the Lady Cougars, but allowed the five runs in the second inning before giving way to Peyton Sorrells. Sorrells (5-1) put out the fire in the second and then tossed five straight scoreless frames. The junior did not allow a hit over her 5.1 innings, striking out seven.
 
Smith was 4-for-4 at the plate in game two, driving in three, scoring once and reaching base five times.