COLUMBUS - The Columbus State University softball team showed heart and determination on Sunday in the Peach Belt Conference Tournament Championship against Georgia Southwestern, winning the first game in walk-off fashion 11-10 and beating the Hurricanes 15-8 in the second game to advance to the PBC Tournament Championship Series next weekend. 

Game 1: CSU 11 GSW 10

• Lindsey Patton hit a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning to force a second game against GSW 
• Patton started things off in the first inning with a RBI single, plating Caitlyn Canady
• In the second, GSW's Lacey Rutledge hit a three-run homer to take a 3-1 lead over CSU, then in the third inning, the Canes scored five more runs off of three hits and two errors to make it an 8-1 game
• The Cougars answered back in the bottom of the third, scoring three runs thanks to a Patton RBI single and Brooke Miller driving in two runs with a single to center field
• GSW tallied on another run in the fourth, but CSU came within one run of the Canes in the next half inning, scoring four runs. Katelyn Cooper singled and plated pinch-runner Izzy Ripatti, then Nova Wright jacked a three-run bomb to make it 9-8
• Kenzie Bayer tied the game in the fifth thanks to a solo shot over center field, but Isabel Marcotte responded with a solo homer in the sixth to give the Canes a one-run lead
• Bayer did it again in the sixth, tying the game at 10 but this time with a RBI single through the left side, scoring Wright. Julianna Franklin held GSW to scoring no runs in the top of the seventh
• Canady, Patton and Bayer each tallied three hits and Patton and Wright had three RBI each. Franklin received the win inside the circle after 5.0 innings of work

Game 2: CSU 15 GSW 8

• GSW took an early 2-0 lead in the first with a single and a double, however, CSU scored seven runs in the bottom of the inning thanks to an error, a Lindsey Patton three-run home run, five walks, a sac fly from Madison McDonald and a Katelyn Cooper RBI single
• The Canes got within one run in the second off a triple, a fielder's choice RBI and a two-run homer
• Bayer hit her second home run of the day in the bottom of the second to give CSU an 8-6 lead for two innings until GSW's Ansley Duffey made it an 8-7 game with a home run
• Rutledge tied the game in the fifth with a RBI single, but the Cougars broke the game open in the bottom of the inning thanks to Patton hitting her second homer of the game (two-run) and McDonald launching a grand slam to make it a 14-8 ball game
• CSU tallied one more run in the sixth with a Bayer RBI single, plating Wright. Franklin didn't allow any runs to be scored in the sixth and seventh innings to give the Cougars more momentum. She earned the win and improves to 13-4 inside the circle
• Canady, Cooper, Patton (4 RBI), Bayer (3 RBI) and McDonald (5 RBI) each recorded two hits

UP NEXT
Second seed Columbus State will face first seed North Georgia in the PBC Tournament Championship Series May 3-5 in Dahlonega, Ga. Game times will be announced by the PBC this week.