For the first time ever the Columbia International University Softball team took to the field. The Rams got their season started against College of Coastal Georgia. The Mariners honored the Rams with a ceremonial first pitch to commemorate the team. The Rams and Mariners played two tough games, but the Mariners came out on top, 5-0 in the game one and 5-3 in game two.

1st Game Highlights:

• Alyssa Allender was the second Ram up to bat and singled to right field for the first ever hit in program history
• In the bottom of the first Alexis Holler got the Mariners to go down in order
• In the bottom of the second the Mariners got two runners on base, but Holler got the next three batters out to keep the game scoreless
• The Mariners got on the board with a two run home run in the bottom of the third
• The Mariners got on the board in the bottom of the third as well to go up by three
• The Rams got their second hit of the game in the top of the sixth off the bat of Brittney Allender
• The Mariners scored two more runs in the bottom of the sixth and went on to win 5-0

Coach Allen on game one: "Alexis Holler pitched a very competitive game and Lana Fletcher did a great job in relief. It was great to have our first hit in program history happen in the first inning off the bat of Alyssa Allender. The game was closer than the score shows so I was proud of that."

2nd Game Highlights:

• Kaylyn DeVaney got the game started with a single to center. After Kayla Washington and Milena Picciano got on base, Robyn Andrews stepped up to bat and picked up the first ever run batted in on a fielder's choice. After Madison Janning reached on a fielder's choice, Trinity Jennings stepped to the batted and ripped a double to left center to score Washington and Picciano
• After the top half of the first inning the Rams were leading 3-0
• In the bottom half of the inning the Mariners would score two runs of their own to pull within one run
• A hit by pitch, triple, and single gave the Mariners two more runs to lead 4-3 after two innings
• The Rams and Mariners settled in as neither team was able to score a run
• In the bottom of the fourth the Mariners were threatening to score, but Jennings snagged a line drive in the hole and was able to turn a double play by tagging the runner at first
• The Mariners scored their fifth run in the bottom of the fifth on a double
• The Rams fell 5-3 in the final game

Coach Allen on game two: "Robyn Andrews picked up the first rbi in program history so it is always exciting to see things like that. Trinity had a beautiful double play at first and helped us stay in the game. Brittney Allender covered a lot of ground in center field and made a lot of tough catches to keep us in the game."

Box Score Highlights:

• In game one the Rams had two hit and in game two the Rams had six hits...Over the two games the Rams only committed one error...Alexis Holler, Lana Fletcher, and Alyssa Allender all saw time on the mound and did a great job only allowing a total of 12 hits...DeVaney, Alyssa Allender, Picciano, Janning, Jennings, and Brittney Allender all had hits for the Rams...Paige Alt had five runs batted in for the Mariners

Coaches Quote:

• I'm really proud of how we played today, we showed a lot of character and competed well. We only had one defensive error on the day which is stellar for the first weekend out, and our pitchers kept us in both games. If we can get our bats going we'll be playing some fun softball this spring!

Up Next: The Rams will be back in action tomorrow as the teams travels to Jacksonville, FL to take on Trinity Baptist College. The games are scheduled for 1 and 3 pm.