Softball Grabs Biggest Win in Program History

CLEVELAND, TN – In its second season of competition in the Southern States Athletic Conference, the softball team accomplished a feat no other program at Columbia College ever has.  The Koalas defeated perennial powerhouse and last year's SSAC regular season champion Lee University.

The Fighting Koalas struggled in the first inning to keep the Lady Flames from scoring. Freshman pitcher Alexis Lucas faced six batters and gave up two early runs, but finished the inning with her only strikeout in the game.  Columbia didn't get on the scoreboard until the top of the third inning when Lucas singled to center and advanced to second base on a wild throw. With Lucas in scoring position, junior Samantha Santoro drove her home with a single past the second baseman.  Santoro finished 3-of-4 with 2 runs scored and an RBI.  Brittany Koester continued the inning when she blasted a 2-run homerun to give the Koalas a 3-2 lead.  Koester provided the offensive punch for Columbia, finishing 2-of-4 with 4 RBI's.

Santoro's biggest contribution came from the pitcher's circle.  She entered the game in the 5th inning and shut down the Lady Flames for 3.1 innings to record the win.  Extra innings proved plenty of excitement.  Symone Nettles singled, but was thrown out when trying to advance on a double by junior Kacie Davenport.  Davenport scored the only run of the 8th inning when junior Brittany Bendt came up with her biggest hit as a Fighting Koala.  Bendt lined a single to right field that plated the winning run.

Head coach James Morrison said, "I am so proud of the focus and effort our team put forward today.  It was a great win for our program."

The Fighting Koalas will continue their road trip Saturday as they take on Shorter University.