MADEIRA BEACH, Fla. – The bats came alive when it counted as
Maddie Souza and
Cami Neal launched home runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to help Columbia rally and defeat Colgate, 5-4 in the final game of the Florida trip Monday afternoon.
An all-around solid effort allowed Columbia to leave Florida with wins in three of its last four games. The Lions improve to 4-8 overall on the season with another tough road test coming up this weekend in Kentucky.
"I was super proud how Lily kept us in the game long enough for our offense to figure out Colgate's pitching," Columbia Softball Head Coach
Jennifer Teague said. "Then to have key runners on the bases, combined with the two home runs was just fantastic to watch and to be a part of. Just a great team win."
Colgate took the lead in the second inning and added another run in the third. The Raiders held the lead the rest of the way until the very end.
Columbia stranded runners in the first and fourth innings, but was finally able to capitalize in the sixth inning.
Jaden Hill was walked to start frame before a Neal single put two Lions on with no outs. A
Sarah Mikami sacrifice bunt moved Hill and Neal over and
Eleni Katsivalis grounded out to the shortstop, allowing Hill to score Columbia's first run of the game.
The Raiders looked to put the game away in the top of the seventh with a two-spot. Kiley Shelton knocked a double into left field that scored two Raiders and added insurance.
Facing their last three outs,
Georgia Corey started the rally with a one-out single.
Liv Madkins came in as the pinch runner before Souza stepped up and belted a two-run shot over the left field wall to cut the Colgate lead down to one.
Later in the frame, Hill dropped a two-out base hit into left field to keep Columbia's hopes alive. Neal came to the plate next and delivered another two-run homer over the left field wall to give Columbia the win in walk-off style.
"It's been a grind this whole weekend," Neal said after the game. "We have been trying to make adjustments and it just all came together. Our energy was so high, I had to do it for the team."
Raquel Reyes (3-4) earned the win with 1.0 inning of work. Reyes came in in the top of the seventh and tallied a strikeout.
Lily McCord fired 6.0 innings and allowed four runs on eight hits. McCord was able to keep Colgate at bay as the Raider left six runners on base between the first and six innings.
ON DECK
Columbia returns to the field this weekend at the John Cropp Classic hosted by Kentucky. Columbia opens the weekend with a 10:00 a.m. game Friday against Ohio State. The Lions will also play South Dakota State and Kentucky over the course of the weekend.
FOLLOWING THE LIONS
Stay up to date on all things Columbia Softball by following the Lions on Twitter (@CULionsSoftball), Instagram (@culionssoftball) and on Facebook (@ColumbiaSoftball).
