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COLUMBUS - The Columbus State University softball team split another home doubleheader, this time against Francis Marion on Saturday. The Peach Belt Conference showdown took place at Cougar Field. 

Columbus State (29-13, 9-3 PBC) hung on for a 5-4 win in the opening game before falling short in the comeback 12-9 in the second affair. 

"I'm still upset and working on correcting these home doubleheaders that we keep splitting," said head coach Brad Huskisson. "But I think our offense is starting to pick things up and we've hit some really good pitchers well lately."

The Lady Cougars will be right back at Cougar Field on Tuesday, April 16 for a conference doubleheader against Georgia College. First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.

Game One

Columbus State used the long ball in the opening game to score all five of their runs as they powered their way past the Patriots 5-4. 

With FMU on top 1-0 in the second inning, Paris Poston rocked her second home run of the season on the first pitch of the at-bat. The freshman sent it towards the scoreboard in right-center giving the Lady Cougars their first lead at 2-1. 

But the Patriots would immediately respond, hitting a solo home run in the top of the third to tie the game at two-apiece. That's where the score would remain as both pitchers settled in heading to the bottom of the fifth. 

Hannah Rose Corbin would lead the bottom of the fifth off with a double into left center while Morgan Elston singled to follow which eventually put runners on second and third for Elyse Ambrose. On a 1-0 pitch Ambrose mashed a ball into dead center that went over the wall for a three-run home run to put CSU up 5-2. 

From there the Lady Cougars would have to hang on for the win. The Patriots scored a run in the sixth to make it a two-run deficit and then started a two-out rally in the seventh. 

After a batter reached on an error a double would bring her in to cut it down to 5-4. With the tying run on second base, Darby Demarest picked up the game-ending strikeout to seal the deal for CSU. 

Demarest (14-4) threw the complete game, giving up three earned runs while striking out 12. It was the 11th time this season she has reached double-digit strikeouts in a game. 

Elston finished 3-for-4 at the plate while Ambrose had the go-ahead home run and three RBI's. 

Game Two

The Lady Cougars would once again break a tie with a big home this time off the bat of Elizabeth Perdue in the bottom of the third. 

The senior went first pitch swinging and blasted one into left field to break a 2-2 tie, putting CSU in the lead 4-2. It was the senior's seventh home run this season. 

But once again FMU would battle back and tie the game at 4-4 heading to the sixth inning where the runs started piling up. 

The Patriots took the lead on a solo home run making it 5-4 before Columbus State would get two-outs. But despite the two-outs, FMU would start a long rally, scoring six more runs in the inning. They busted open the game with a seven-run inning that got away from CSU.

Yet the Lady Cougars wouldn't go down without a fight. They responded in a big way in the bottom frame with a two-out rally themselves. A bases-loaded two-RBI single from Reynolds made it 11-6 and then Perdue jacked her second home run of the game, a no-doubter to left center to cut the deficit to 11-9. 

CSU would fall short as they couldn't put together a rally in the bottom of the seventh, giving them their fifth consecutive split in home doubleheaders. 

Perdue led the way in game two going 3-for-4 at the plate with two home runs and five RBI's. 

Reynolds finished with two hits while picking up three RBI's in the loss.