CSCC SOFTBALL VS. SNEAD STATE (3-6-13)
By BRYAN GRISHAM
CSCC Sports Information
LADY COUGAR BATS NEARLY AS COLD AS THE WEATHER
BOAZ, AL. - The Cleveland State softball team hit the road on
Wednesday afternoon for a double dip with the Snead State Lady
Parsons. The Lady Cougars were unable to overcome the frigid
temperatures and the Lady Parsons all at the same time as they
dropped both games, 4-3 in the first and 3-1 in the second.
"The weather got colder and so did our bats," commented Lady
Cougar coach Katie Willingham. "We didn't want big hits, just good
solid contact. I felt we accomplished that, but our defense let us
down and cost us two runs. We can't change the past, but hopefully
we can learn from it."
Torrea Talton doubled in the bottom of the first inning and later
scored on a groundout by Hannah Harris as the home team started
game one with a 1-0 lead.
The Lady Cougars came right back in the top of the second as Maura
Ditto and Ashley Swaney drew a free pass each and moved up a base
on a nice sacrifice bunt by Emily Huston. Both Ladies crossed home
on a single from Paige Mayer as Cleveland State took a 2-1
lead.
A Lady Cougar miscue set up RBI hits from Ashley Robinson and
Savannah Harper to help the Lady Parsons go up 3-2 in the bottom of
the second. Two more errors and a stolen base helped the Lady
Parsons extend its lead to 4-2 in the fifth.
A solo home run from Amber Covington in the top of the sixth drew
the Lady Cougars a run closer, but the rally would end there as the
home team hung on to take game one. Whitney Sharp got the win for
Snead State while Ida Watson suffered the loss for Cleveland State.
Covington, Mayer and Leslie Still had the only three Cleveland
State hits in game one.
The Lady Parsons repeated the winning formula as they started game
two almost the same as they had game one with a double from Talton
and and RBI double by Harris for a 1-0 lead.
Huston and Meghan Allen contributed a single each in the top of
the second frame and Amber Swaney checked in with an RBI single to
tie the game for the Lady Cougars at 1-1.
The Lady Parsons took the lead for good an inning later as Harris
blasted a solo homer and then added an insurance run in the sixth
as Harris doubled and scored on a single from Robinson.
Megan Honea got the win in the circle for Snead State while Kelsey
Capella took the loss for Cleveland State (1-7). Allen had two of
the four Cleveland State hits while Huston and Amber Swaney
collected one each.
"We had six strikeouts offensively and our defense could have been
sharper," said Willingham. "We have to come out ready and focused
this weekend against Roane because you can't take anyone lightly in
our conference. We have had a hard time bouncing back from a rough
couple of weeks and now is the time we need to step it up."
The Lady Cougars will travel to Harriman and Roane State on Friday
and Saturday for four big Region VII Conference games.
