COLUMBUS - The Columbus State University softball team lost a pair of games on the road versus No. 17 Young Harris College on Saturday afternoon, 6-2 and 7-3. It was the first Peach Belt Conference doubleheader for the Cougars this season.
Columbus State dropped to 10-8, while Young Harris improved to 15-4 and 4-0 in PBC play.
GAME 1 (YHC 6-2)
Young Harris scored the first run of the day in the bottom of the first after Natalie Corbin scampered home on a Carly Rigsbee sacrifice fly to left.
The teams were scoreless in the second inning, but the Cougars went ahead 2-1 in the top of the third, thanks to Hannah Rose Corbin. Maddie Dodson led off the inning with a walk and then advanced to second on an Emily Holmes sacrifice bunt to third. Corbin stepped up to the plate and jacked her eighth home run of the season over the right-centerfield wall to give CSU a one-run lead over the Mountain Lions.
The Mountain Lions responded in the next half-inning with a two-run homer from Jill Torres to retake the lead. YHC continued the scoring momentum in the fifth as the Mountain Lions scored three more runs off of two doubles.
Harley Dawson (3-2) took her second loss in the circle. Corbin led Columbus State at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a homer, while Caitlyn Canady was 2-for-4 with a double.
GAME 2 (YHC 7-3)
The Mountain Lions scored three runs in the bottom of the first off of a wild pitch and a two-run RBI single to right-center off the bat of Rigsbee.
The Cougars got one run back in the top of the second as Kirstin Reynolds hit an RBI single to centerfield to score Paige Vincent.
Young Harris platted four more runs to give them the 7-3 victory. YHC capitalized on a bases-loaded walk to score a run in the bottom of the second inning before a wild pitch allowed another run to score. An RBI groundout made it a 6-2 game.
The Cougars didn't quit though, closing the gap to 6-4 in the fifth. Laura Harris sent a double into the gap in right-centerfield to score Kristin Odum. Harris scored later in the inning on a Canady sacrifice fly.
However, Young Harris upped the lead in the sixth on Torres' second homer of the day to put the game out of reach.
Corbin collected the loss to drop to 4-4 in the circle. Vincent was a perfect 3-for-3 with a double, while Corbin and Harris both went 1-for-3.
Columbus State is on the road again on Wednesday, March 17, as the Cougars head to Pensacola, Fla. for a doubleheader against the No. 23 University of West Florida. The first pitch is set for 2 p.m.
