GREENWOOD, S.C. - The Columbus State University softball team earned a split against Lander on Sunday. The Peach Belt Conference games were played at Doug Spears Field.

Columbus State (20-9, 3-1 PBC) lost the opening game 5-1 before bouncing back in the second one 3-2 in extra innings.

"Credit to their pitching as they made things difficult for us at the plate all day long," said head coach Brad Huskisson. "But coming up with a road split isn't a bad outcome and despite being shutout for most of the second game, we got the timely hits when we needed them most to win it in extras."

The Lady Cougars will return home to take on Emmanuel College in a non-conference doubleheader Wednesday. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.

Game One

CSU jumped out in front in the top of the second inning after Elyse Ambrose hit a leadoff triple that Elizabeth Perdue followed by hitting a single of her own to make it 1-0. 

Darby Demarest hadn't given up a hit until 2.1 innings in when a single followed by a home run all of a sudden put the Bearcats in front. They would follow it up with a strong fourth inning scoring three runs on four hits to make it a 5-1 game. 

Columbus State would have a chance in the top of the sixth after a Hannah Rose Corbin walk and a Morgan Elston single put two on the base paths. But a fly out and a groundout would end the opportunity leaving Lander ahead by a healthy margin. 

The Lady Cougars only grabbed four hits in the opening game, with Ambrose going 2-for-3 scoring the lone run and Perdue going 1-for-3 getting the only RBI. 

Dawson came in relief for CSU going 2.1 innings while scattering three hits and giving up no runs with two strikeouts. 

Game Two

In a game that CSU struggled again offensively, they finally broke through with back-to-back hits in the top of the tenth to propel them to the victory. 

Having secured only three hits all game, the Lady Cougars got them in a timely manner in the tenth with a Perdue single followed up by a Paris Poston double. The double from the freshman brought Perdue all the way around to score what turned out to be the game winning run. 

Corbin (8-2) came back out to the circle and pitched her fifth straight shutout inning earning the split for Columbus State. The freshman threw a complete game giving up just six hits while retiring 18 of the final 19 batters, with the only one reaching base due to an error.

The only other hit for CSU came in the fifth inning when Perdue hit a double that brought Ambrose across the plate. The senior would eventually come home to score on a strikeout when the ball was thrown to first. That run would tie the game at 2-apiece before the teams traded zeroes the rest of the way until the tenth.

Perdue finished 2-for-4 at the plate with two runs and one RBI from her double. Poston got the only other hit, going 1-for-4 with the clutch game winning RBI.