The Cleveland State softball team split their non-conference doubleheader on Tuesday afternoon as they hit the road for a twinbill with the Lady Jaguars of Georgia Perimeter. The Lady Cougars dropped game one by the slimmest of margins, 2-1 but bounced back to get a 7-5 win in game two.
 
The home team scored first in game one as Stephanie Satterfield doubled in a run in the bottom of the first inning for a 1-0 lead.
 
The Lady Cougars managed to tie the game in the top of the fifth without the benefit of a hit. Ciera Belcher reached base on a Lady Jaguar miscue, moved to second and to third on a groundball and then scored the tying run on a passed ball.
 
Satterfield struck again in the fifth frame with an RBI single, plating Jessie Romines who had walked and stolen second for a 2-1 advantage.
 
Lyndsey Parden went the distance to get the win for the Lady Jaguars allowing only one hit along the way to Cleveland State's Amber Swaney. Kelsey Capella went the whole way for the Lady Cougars allowing only seven hits in the loss.
 
"We had a lot of base runners in game one, but couldn't get many across," stated Lady Cougar coach Katie Willingham. "We had plenty of chances with walks, errors and hit batters, but didn't execute when we had to. When you leave 10 runners on base you should score more than one run."
 
Ciera Belcher got the Lady Cougars off and running in their first turn at the plate in game two with a single. She moved to second on a grounder from Maura Ditto and later scored on a Lady Jaguars miscue.
 
The home team came right back in their half of the first as three hits produced a pair of runs with Satterfield doubling in a run and Samantha Maycock adding an RBI single for a 2-1 lead.
 
The lead stood up until the top of the fourth. Amber Covington and Sydney Howell each singled to start the rally and Covington came around to score on a triple from Emily Huston to tie the game at 2-2.
 
Abby Hulsey put Georgia Perimeter on top again in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI double, but the Lady Cougars came right back in the sixth to once again take the lead. Sara O'Rear provided the big hit with a two-run double and Ditto plated O'Rear with a single for a 5-3 Lady Cougar lead.
 
Alexsis Fields and and Savannah Cook each had RBI hits for the Lady Jags in the bottom of the sixth as the home team tied the game again at 5-5.
 
Extra innings would be needed as the Lady Cougars finally took the lead for good in the top of the eighth inning. It was O'Rear one more time coming up with the big hit, this time an RBI double while Ditto followed with a run scoring single to put the visitors on top for good, 7-5.
 
"We did a better job at the plate in game two," stated Willingham. "We left 10 more runners on base, but we got a win and Ida and Kelsey did a good job of pitching. We've got to execute better with runners on base to win."
 
Howell, Belcher, Ditto and O'Rear led the Lady Cougar hit parade with two safties each. Ida Watson went the distance to get the win for Cleveland State (6-12) while Jenna Carr took the loss.
 

The Lady Cougars will host Motlow State for a four game series this weekend.

 The Cleveland State baseball team made the trip south to Georgia Perimeter College on Tuesday afternoon and managed a split with the Jaguars. The Cougars banged out 11 hits in game one and withstood a late Jag rally to get an 8-6 win, but dropped a 6-3 decision in game two.
 
Cody McCance knocked in a run for the home team in the bottom of the second inning to start the scoring in game one. Brad Taylor and Ryan Lemonds each picked up an RBI in the third frame to put the Jags on top 3-0.
 
The Cougars dented the scoreboard three times in the fifth inning to tie the game. Michael Hargrove and Colby Harmon each singled to start the uprising. Zach Janes then singled in a run and two more crossed on a fielders choice and an costly Jaguar error.
 
Georgia Perimeter took the lead again with a run in their half of the fifth, but the Cougars came back to tie the game once again with a single run in the top of the seventh to force an extra inning. Harmon coaxed a walk, DeAndre Allen bunted him up a base and Keith Buckhault knocked him in with single.
 
The Cougars exploded for four big runs in the top of the eighth. Chase Edwards doubled and later scored on an error to start the rally while a throwing error and sacrifice fly accounted for two more runs and an RBI single by Allen capped the rally for an 8-4 lead.
 
The Jags didn't go quietly as they Cougars helped start a rally in the bottom of the eighth with a walk and two plunked batters to load the bases. A wild pitch plated one run and a sacrifice fly pushed another across, but the Cougars were finally able to put out the fire and hang on to win game one.
 
Derek Chandler picked up the win for the Cougars (13-11) in relief of Ethan Davis who started while Bobby Towne got the save. Landon Hayes took the loss for the Jaguars (13-11).
 
Most of the scoring came early in game two as the Cougars put a single run on the board in each of their first two at-bats. The Jaguars walked in the first run of the game as Harmon picked up an RBI the easy way and a run crossed in the second on a Jaguar miscue and a groudout from Edwards.
 
Taylor singled in a pair of runs for the home team in the first and then the Jags tacked on four more in the second to take a 6-2 lead. The Cougars were their own worst enemies as the four runs crossed on only two hits, two big errors, a passed ball and a groundout.
 
The Cougars added a run in their final turn at the dish as Edwards singled in a run, but the rally would end there as the Jags gained a split of the days events.
 
Haydn Bailey took the loss for the Cougars while Tyler Kilgore pitched five strong innings in relief. Taylor Hicks went five innings for the Jaguars to get the win while Abe Cartledge picked up the save.
 
The Cougars will return home for a three-game weekend series with Roane State this weekend.