AIKEN, S.C. - The Columbus State University softball team kicked off their conference play this season in style sweeping their doubleheader against USC Aiken. The Peach Belt Conference games were played at J.H. Satcher Field.

Columbus State (19-8, 2-0 PBC) won the opening game 1-0 before following it up with a 7-1 win in the nightcap.

"We couldn't have asked for a better start to our conference play picking up two wins on the road," said head coach Brad Huskisson. "Darby was incredible yet again and set the tone for us in that opening game. It was great to see our bats wake up to give us the early lead en route to the second win."

The Lady Cougars will stay in South Carolina, traveling over to Greenwood to take on Lander in a doubleheader Sunday, March 17. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.

Game One

As she's been all season long, Darby Demarest was unstoppable inside the circle in the opening game. Better yet, she was unhittable. The senior pitched a complete game no-hitter for the second time this season, shutting USC Aiken down from start to finish.

Throwing 124 pitches, Demarest (8-3) went 7.0 innings walking just three while striking out nine in the dominating effort. 

The Lady Cougars needed the performance from Demarest inside the circle as the bats were held quiet themselves. It wasn't until the seventh inning that CSU finally scored the first run of the game. 

Paris Poston led the seventh off with a double which was followed with JoJo Beyer coming in as a pinch-runner. The next batter Maddie Dodson lined out to right field but a throwing error allowed Beyer to come all the way around to plate the first and only run of the game. 

It was all Columbus State needed on the offensive side. Their defense came up big on a number of groundouts throughout the game to help preserve the no-hitter. 

The first no-hitter for Demarest happened just two weeks ago, at Cougar Field against Lynn where she went 7.0 innings giving up two walks with six strikeouts.

Game Two

In the second game Columbus State saw their bats give them the early lead as they jumped in front with Kirstin Reynolds blasting her fifth home run of the season. Paris Poston would snag an RBI-single later in the inning to give CSU the 3-0 lead.

Two more runs would come across in the third inning thanks to a sac-fly from Madisyn Brown with the next batter Madeline Parker knocking home another off a single. 

With a 5-0 lead, the pitching once again helped the Lady Cougars finish off the sweep. Hannah Rose Corbin (7-2) pitched a complete game inside the circle, going 7.0 innings pitched giving up just one earned while striking out seven. 

Elizabeth Perdue added a run in the fifth inning mashing a moonshot to left center for her sixth home run of the season. They would tack on an additional run in the seventh with Brittani Crawford grabbing a pinch-hit RBI-single.

It was a dominating performance overall for CSU inside the circle Friday. Through the 14 total innings that Columbus State pitched, they gave up only one run while racking up 16 total strikeouts.

Perdue finished the second game going 3-for-4 with three runs and one RBI off the home run.