Colorado Christian Softball broke from Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play Tuesday, using their open spring break schedule to play a double header at University of Nebraska Kearney. The Cougars opened the series with a 5-2 win, before falling 6-5 to the home Lopers.
 
CCU pitcher Tana Feiner picked up the win in the opener after fanning four UNK batters and allowing just two earned runs on five hits. The Christian squad rallied behind Feiner's play, firing up for nine hits that included RBI doubles from Kristina Billante, Sarah Rasmussen, and Michaela Barr. The Cougars plated two in the third inning to go up 2-0, but UNK rebounded in the fourth with a two-run homer that would tie the contest.
 
Fortunately, the blue and gold had three more in them in the final inning, as Alexa Coffing, Barr, and Rasmussen strung together base hits to lift the Cougars in the seventh.
 
Still playing as hot as she has over the past few several weeks, Rasmussen finished the game with two RBI and a 3-for-4 showing from the plate. Shortstop Stephanie Tatham added one run after going 2-for-3 against Kearney pitcher Cassie Roessing.
 
Unfortunately, though they had momentum from the opener, a seven-hit effort, and three leads in the late game, the CCU squad could not pull off back-to-back wins against the Lopers.
 
A Rasmussen double to right field got the scoring started in the second contest, as the first-inning hit brought Billante home to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead.  Eager to recover from Kearney's answer in the bottom of the inning, Christian got another score when a double-steal in the second got senior Danielle Romine across the plate.
 
The Lopers would score again – though not till the third – neutralizing the CCU advantage with a one-RBI single.
 
The squads sat knotted at twos until the top of the sixth, when Tatham scored on a UNK wild pitch. Unfortunately, the home team would take their first lead of the day in their half of the frame, benefiting from a Christian error that resulted in a pair of unearned runs. The Cougars would get two more in the seventh inning (Rasmussen and Letty Valenzuela RBIs), but so would the Lopers – the winning run coming four batters into the inning.
 
Though Jennie Winston threw four innings in the start, she was relieved in the fifth by Katie Edison, who tossed one complete inning against UNK. The two allowed six hits and three runs from the home team. Feiner completed the game for the Cougars, however, entering in the sixth and gaining the loss after giving up three runs on four hits.
 
Another pair of games await the 11-17 Cougars tomorrow in Kearney – they'll play the Lopers again at Dryden Park. Incoming weather may cause an earlier start time – fans should watch ccucougars online or on Twitter for the latest updates.