Columbia Struggles on the Weekend
COLUMBIA, S.C. - The Fighting Koalas softball team struggled this weekend finishing 1-3 against conference opponents Truett-McConnell and nationally ranked Brenau University.
Columbia's only win on the weekend came in game one against the Truett-McConnell Lady Bears. Columbia started the game with an impressive 3 run inning sparked by lead off hitter Samantha Santoro. Santoro singled to center and advanced to second base putting the Fighting Koalas in scoring position. Back to back doubles by junior Brittany Koester and senior Symone Nettles gave Columbia their second run and put Nettles in position to score the third and final run of the inning.
The Fighting Koalas had a commanding lead after 3 innings but the Lady Bears came back with a shocking 9 run inning in the fourth to take the lead 9-7. Columbia answered back in the bottom of the 5th with 2 coming off of a homerun by 1st baseman, Erica Rutherford who homered to center on a 1-1 count with 1 out. Columbia went on to squeak out the win over Truett-McConnell 11-10.
The rest of the weekend saw Columbia struggle against the nationally ranked Brenau University Golden Tigers. The Fighting Koalas lost the first game of the series 14-0 in 5 innings and battled again in the second game and still came up short, losing 9-0 in the 6th. The Fighting Koalas sit at 10-13 in the SSAC conference and hope to make an appearance in post-season play. Columbia looks to close out their season this upcoming weekend against Shorter University and Lee University.