Colorado Christian Softball solidified their spot in the 2015 RMAC Tournament Saturday, earning their way with a 13-4 win over Adams State. The Cougars got the afternoon victory after falling 5-4 in the opening game in Alamosa.
 
Needing to win in their final weekend of regular season play, the CCU squad battled back from an early 1-0 deficit in the early contest. Using timely hits from Letty Valenzuela, Danielle Romine, and Michaela Barr, Christian put together a four-run sixth inning to seize the game's momentum with just a frame and a half left to play. After Valenzuela got the scoring started with a one-RBI single, Romine stepped up with a monster triple to center field that scored Alexa Coffing and Stephanie Tatham. A Barr double one batter later plated Romine and put Christian on top 4-1.
 
Unfortunately, the Grizzlies had a four-run effort in store in the game's final inning. After scoring one on an RBI single, the home team got run number three off a bases-loaded walk. Two crippling Christian errors got Adams the tying and then game-winning runs. It was a frustrating ending for a Cougar squad fully aware of their need for a strong showing on the weekend.
 
Pitchers Tana Feiner and Mariah Bledsoe combined for eight Ks in the seven-inning affair. Though she didn't allow a single earned run, senior Bledsoe was saddled with the loss – her ninth of the year. The two allowed nine hits, while CCU's batters totaled seven. Though the Cougar effort from the plate was hardly head-turning, Christian's bats would come alive in the final game.
 
Thanks in part to three-hit efforts from Kristina Billante and Alexa Coffing, the blue and gold ignited for 15 hits in game two. The showing was both explosive and stifling, as ASU answered with just four runs on five hits. The Cougars, on the other hand, scored run after run – stringing RBIs together to assure a commanding lead and the eventual statement win. Valenzuela and Billante combined for nine RBI, proving deadly from the plate with a pair of three-RBI bombs in addition to a two-RBI double from Valenzuela and a one-run single from Billante.
 
Valenzuela's double got the scoring going in the first inning, and set up a Tatham RBI base hit to give Christian a 3-0 lead to open the game. There wasn't any indication that the visitors would run away with things, though, as the Grizzlies answered back in the bottom of the frame with a three-run homer that tied the game.
 
Valenzuela struck again in the very next inning, blasting a shot over the fence to score three and give the Cougars a 6-3 advantage. Adams hung one on the board in the bottom of two, but that would be the end of the Grizzlies' potency from the plate.
 
Though they wouldn't need to score again, the Colorado Christian offense wasn't done punishing. Billante's single got the Cougars to seven in the fifth, just before a huge sixth inning would assure an early ending to the game. CCU scored six, with Coffing, Barr, and Jennie Winston each plating one. Billante's smash provided the appropriate punctuation for the 13-4 win.
 
After turning in another impressive effort in the circle, Bledsoe avenged her loss from earlier in the day. The senior allowed just two earned runs on five ASU hits.
 
Though their ticket to the RMAC Tournament is punched, the Cougars can better their seeding with more a good day on Sunday. CCU will wrap their regular season with a second doubleheader against Adams.