LAKEWOOD, CO- CCU continued play at home with a doubleheader against St. Mary's (TX) on Friday on a beautiful day for softball. The pitching was key in game one as they claimed a 4-0 victory, but the Rattlers stormed back in the second game to take down the hosts 12-10. 

GAME ONE 
Samaria Roope got the scoring started with an RBI single in the first to score Kayla Middleton. Camryn Quilling continued the scoring with another single in the second to make it 2-0. Cheyenne Stark notched an RBI with a sacrifice fly in the fifth and Kenzie Middleton capped the scoring with an RBI single in the sixth as the Cougars closed out a 4-0 victory. 

Emma Duncan dazzled in the circle, pitching the complete shutout with six strikeouts and only two hits allowed. Four different hitters notched RBIs as CCU used a balanced attack to take down the Rattlers. 

GAME TWO
St. Mary's responded to the loss in game one with an early run in the first of the second contest. The hosts fired back, starting with an RBI walk from Quilling with the bases juiced. Kenzie then hit a sacrifice fly, followed by a wild pitch that allowed the Cougars to tack on another run. Kaila Eastburn then brought home two more with a single to give her team a 5-1 advantage. 

The Rattlers brought a run back with a homer in the fourth, but again the Cougars responded. Roope doubled down the left field line to score another run in the fifth, while Stark singled home another run to push the lead to 7-2. 

St. Mary's refused to go down quietly, and they roared back into the game with a seven-run sixth to take the 9-7 lead. CCU took the lead back in the bottom of the sixth, starting with a monstrous solo homer from Quilling. A Kenzie Middleton single teed up Kayla Middleton for a two-run bomb to centerfield to give her team the lead back at 10-9. Unfortunately, the visitors managed to push three more runs across in the seventh and they closed out the victory by a final score of 12-10 in a wild game. 

Kaila Eastburn started in the circle, going 4.2 innings with just two runs allowed. Eastburn and Kayla Middleton notched two RBI apiece to pace the offense in the thriller. 

Due to inclement weather approaching on February 10, the doubleheader at home against St. Edward's has been postponed to February 11 with the games to be played at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. MST at All Star Park.