The Cleveland State Lady Cougar softball team ended their eight game losing skid on a windy Thursday afternoon at Lady Cougar Field as they downed the Snead State Lady Parsons in the first game of a doubleheader.
The Lady Cougars got all the runs that they would need in their first turn at the plate and then withstood a frantic Lady Parsons comeback to take game one 4-3. The Parsons apparently were upset at the outcome of game one as they pounded the home team into submission in game two with 18 hits as they gained a split of the twinbill by a final score of 14-0.
Emily Huston and Perry Hindi each singled while Sara O'Rear drew a free pass in the bottom of the first inning to load the bases. A Snead State miscue led to two runs and RBI singles from Kristen Qualls and Amber Swaney plated two more as the Lady Cougars jumped out front 4-0.
As it turned out, that would be the only inning of the day that the home team would cross home plate, but it was just enough to win game one.
The Lady Parsons scratched out a run in the second and then scored two more in their last at-bat in the seventh as Caitlyn Rose singled in a pair of runs to cut the lead to 4-3, but the Lady Cougars managed to record the last out and strand the tying run on base to take the win in game one.
Ida Watson went the distance to nail down the win for Cleveland State (5-17) allowing five hits and only one earned run along the way while Sara Duncan took the loss for Snead State.
"We did well scoring first, but we have to be more consistent and score in more than one inning," explained Lady Cougar coach Katie Willingham. "
Game two was a different story as the Lady Parsons broke out the heavy lumber and put the game away quickly. Snead State scored five runs on six hits in the top of the first, four more in the second frame and added another five-spot in the fifth to salt away the win.
Snead State starting pitcher, Christian Rhodes was just as impressive as the offense as she limited the Lady Cougars to only one hit in game two, a fourth inning double by Jennifer Kern, to take the win. Kelsey Haley, Alexa Perian and Allison Conley all pitched for Cleveland State.
"Rhodes did a great job in game two, but we have to make adjustments at the plate and we didn't," stated Willingham. "We lost all our momentum in the first inning. They got hot and we couldn't catch up."
The Lady Cougars will travel to Motlow State for a four-game weekend series.