AMERICUS, Ga. — The Columbus State University Softball team closed out its Peach Belt Conference series with a 9-3 victory over Georgia Southwestern State University on Monday evening at Lady Canes Field, completing a three-game season sweep of the Hurricanes.
Columbus State wasted little time getting on the board, as
Aubree Ussery delivered an RBI single in the top of the first inning to score
Ansley Collins. Georgia Southwestern answered in the bottom half with a two-run home run from Peyton Namyslowski to briefly take a 2-1 lead.
The Cougars responded quickly and never trailed again. Back-to-back solo home runs from
Abrianna Green and
Izzy Ripatti in the second inning evened the score and gave Columbus State a 3-2 advantage. The momentum continued in the third inning when
Nova Wright launched a two-run home run to extend the lead to 5-2.
Georgia Southwestern trimmed the deficit to 5-3 in the fifth inning, but Columbus State answered with a strong finish over the final two frames. Ripatti added her second home run of the game in the sixth inning, and Ussery followed with another RBI single to push the lead to 7-3. In the seventh, Collins capped the scoring with a two-RBI single to secure the 9-3 win.
The Cougars totaled 13 hits in the contest, highlighted by a standout performance from Ripatti, who went 3-for-3 with two home runs, three runs scored, and two RBI. Collins added three hits, two runs scored, and two RBI, while Ussery recorded two hits and two RBI. Wright and Green each contributed a home run as part of Columbus State's four-homer performance.
In the circle,
Khloe Shears (13-5) earned the win after allowing three runs on five hits across 4.2 innings.
Hanna Deschambault recorded her second save of the season, tossing 2.1 scoreless innings with three strikeouts to close out the game.
Columbus State improves to 23-14 overall and 12-3 in Peach Belt play and will travel to Fort Valley, Ga., for a nonconference doubleheader against Fort Valley State University on Tuesday, April 7, with first pitch scheduled for 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
