Cougar Softball is back in action after a long off season which included hard work in and off the field in preparation for this 2016 stretch. CCU Opening day occurred in Clearwater, FL at the Eckerd College Spring Invitational; a tournament consisting of 15 different teams. The Cougar squad dropped their first two against Lynn University (Ex. Inn. 3-4) and Nova Southeastern (12-7).

Clearwater was crisp and cool on Friday afternoon as blue and gold took to the field. It was the Fighting Knights who knocked out the first runs of the day in the first inning scoring two unearned. Christian decided to get crafty and made a statement with a stolen base from Michaela Barr and a simultaneous stolen run from Billante in the second. The Cougs scored again in the fourth off a single from Amy Edison and a run by Stephanie Tatham. The score was tied at 2-2.

Next scoreboard point was the Knights in the bottom of the fourth, and now all they had to do was play defense to win the game. Christian fought back, never giving up at the plate and scoring again in the seventh. It was a Rylee Halenar RBI for Tatham to get the run.

Now secured at 3-3 the International Tiebreaking rules were implemented going into extra innings. The definition is stated as "At the start of each inning, a runner is placed on second base with the intent of accelerating opportunities to score and bringing the game to a speedier conclusion. The runner is the last batter to make an out in the previous inning."

Christian started in offense with Charlotte Romero on second, fire coming from her heals hoping to make it around to home plate. CCU's best hitters Perry, Valenzuela, and Billante all battled at the plate, but came up short with two flies and a pop-up. Lynn devastated the Cougs with a foul out to center field, and their runner scoring off the sacrificed fly. The game ended in the eighth inning 4-3 Knights.

Tana Feiner (0-1) was on the mound for the Cougars and came out with the loss but she only had one earned run and four strikeouts. She did a beautiful job leading CCU's defense in this season opener. Christian's fielding was the sole reason why they lost. There were four CCU errors and three unearned Lynn runs. It was unfortunate because the Cougs out hit LU by two.

Despite the tough loss, there was another game to be played against Nova Southeastern. The sharks were a very strong team that rallied in the beginning and in the end of the seven innings.

 It was a shark ATTACK with five runs in the very first frame, and then three more by the top of the fourth. Christian hit back with five runs in the bottom of the fourth making it 8-5. The fifth was silent from both plates. Nova continued on to win the game scoring consistently in the sixth and seventh.

Jennie Winston (0-1) pitched for the Cougs and did a phenomenal job getting four strikeouts, and with little experience.  

CCU newbie Hanna Farmer proved to be a veteran going 4-4, with one RBI and one run. The Cougars hit well and worked NSU's pitcher having 12 hits. Amy Edison also contributed to CCU on the scoreboard with one run, one hit, and two RBI's. There were many Lady Cougs who did good things in this game and have learned how to adjust.

Softball will be back at the Eddie C. Moore Complex on Sat. Feb. 6^th to play against Florida Southern College and then Florida Institute of Technology. Game times are 11:30 AM and 2 PM.