The Lady Parsons of Snead State handed the Cleveland State softball team a pair of heart-breaking losses on Tuesday afternoon in Alabama as the home team swept a doubleheader, winning both games in their last at-bat. Snead State needed extra innings to take game one in a 9-8 slugfest and then squeeked out a win in game two, coming from behind in both games, to post a 5-4 win.
Snead State jumped out front in their first turn at the plate in game one.
Karlee Hunter singled in a run while another crossed on a Lady Cougar miscue for a 2-0 lead.
The Lady Cougars wasted no time as they erased the lead in a big way with a pair of four-run innings in the second and third frames. Hannah Powell singled in a run and Sara O'Rear doubled in another in the second while Emily Huston led off the third with a long home run and Amber Swaney and O'Rear singled in a run apiece for an 8-2 Cleveland State lead.
The Lady Parsons tacked on a run in the second and then came right back to tie the game in the bottom of the third as Katie Osborn picked up a pair of RBIs and Caitlyn Roe belted a two-run homer to knot the score at 8-8.
Pitching on both sides settled down after that as extra innings were required to settle game one. Katlin Light pushed the winning run across for the home team in the bottom of the eighth inning as another Cleveland State miscue came back to haunt them with Snead State taking game one.
Danya Snead went the distance to get the win for Snead State while Kelsey Haley took the loss for Cleveland State (4-12).
"It was two heart-breaking losses," explained Lady Cougar coach Katie Willingham. "The girls played well enough to win both games, but we just didn't finish. We have got to find ways to hold a lead and finish and of course get better on defense."
Huston doubled to start a second inning rally for the Lady Cougars in game two. Perry Hindi followed that with a two-run homer to put the visitors on top, 2-0.
The Lady Parsons responded with a pair of runs in their half of the second as LIght singled in both runs to tie the game at 2-2.
Huston drew a walk in the sixth inning with the bases full of Lady Cougars to force the go-ahead run across. O'Rear then lifted a fly ball to centerfield for another run and a 4-2 lead.
As they had done all day, the Lady Parsons erased the lead in a hurry, this time a three-run outburst in the bottom of the sixth. Kelsey Pelham doubled in a run which would turn out to be the only hit in the inning as four big Lady Cougar errors led to all three runs and a 5-4 win for Snead State.
Christian Rhodes got the win for Snead State in game two while Ida Watson took the loss for Cleveland State.
The Lady Cougars will travel to Columbia State for four Region VII Conference games on Friday and Saturday.