PINEVILLE, La. – The Louisiana College softball team saw an early lead slip away in their American Southwest Conference-opening doubleheader, so they put game two away early by scoring ten runs in the first inning to split the doubleheader with McMurry, dropping game one 7-4 in nine innings in game one and taking game two 12-2 in five innings Friday afternoon at Wildcat Park.

Game 1 – McMurry 7, Louisiana College 4 (9 innings)

The Lady 'Cats jumped out on top in the bottom of the first inning in game one as Briley Johnston drew a lead-off walk, stole second, moved to third on a wild pitch, and then came home on Desiree Squires RBI single through the left side of the infield for a 1-0 lead.

LC extended the lead in the third inning, and it was again the speed of Johnston that caused the War Hawks issues. Johnston again led off the frame with a base on balls, was moved to second with a sacrifice bunt, and then Squires singled through to right field, where the throw back in went wild thanks in part to the concern of Johnston's speed, allowing Johnston to head home and Squires to move up another bag. That error would hurt again as later in the inning Squires scored on a RBI single by Kayla Dauthier for a 3-0 LC lead.

But that lead would not last long as McMurry got their bats going with a huge two-out rally that all started with a Wildcat error that extended the inning. The first two War Hawks went up first pitch swinging and were retired in a total of two pitches. However, a misplayed line drive allowed the inning to continue, and that opened a torrent of War Hawk hits that ended up scoring four runs as McMurry took a 4-3 lead.

Errors allowed LC to quickly tie the game back up. Shaye Tredinich reached second following a misplayed fly ball in right. Breanna Newman brought Tredinich home with a ground ball to second base, which also happened to be booted, to even the score at 4-4.

The game remained that way through the end of regulation and the first extra inning to the ninth where another error extended McMurry's half of the frame, and the War Hawks took advantage with three runs all scored with two outs. LC had no response in the bottom half as McMurry took game one.

Desiree Squires and Kayla Dauthier each went two-for-four in game one with a RBI apiece while Squires also added a run scored. Briley Johnston drew two walks and scored both times. Breanna Newman was credited with a RBI.

Bailey McMillian (2-3) came on in relief in the fourth inning and finished the final 5.1 innings, giving up four hits and three runs, none earned, walked two and struck out one. Olivia Coaker got the start in the circle and a no decision as she threw 3.2 innings and allowed four hits and four runs, none earned, with one strikeout and no walks.

Game 2 – McMurry 2, Louisiana College 12 (5 innings)

After the disappointment of letting game one slip away from them, the Lady 'Cats busted game two open in a big way in the first inning. With one out, Olivia Coaker found the right-center gap to get things started. Desiree Squires reached on an error, which only exacerbated the oncoming torrent of hits by the Lady 'Cats. Bella Houck singled to score Coaker, which was followed by a single by Kayla Dauthier to load the bases. Alyssa Landry added to run total as she went up the middle to score Squires. Samantha Cetta then punched a base hit through the right side to score Houck. Shaye Tredinich went up the gut to plate Dauthier to end a run of five straight base hits. But that did not end the run of LC players reaching safely as Allison Deiter reached on an error that allowed both Landry and Dauthier to score. Then came the big play as Briley Johnston grounded a ball to the shortstop, who in her haste to throw out Johnston ended up throwing the ball all the way up the right field line to the wall, which allowed Tredinich, pinch runner Lexie Marks, and Johnston to all score. The first inning scoring finally came to a close with Kayla Dauthier found the third base line to score Olivia Coaker from third for a 10-0 Louisiana College lead after the first inning.

During the first inning, Louisiana College had a run of 11 batters reach base safely between the recording of the first out of the inning and the second out of the inning.

LC added two more insurance runs in the third inning as Kayla Dauthier's ground ball to short allowed Olivia Coaker to score from third. Samantha Cetta rolled a ground ball to first that was booted, which allowed Desiree Squires to score from third for a 12-0 LC lead after three.

McMurry got their only runs in the game on a two-RBI single in the top of the fourth and would get no closer as the Lady 'Cats closed out the win via the run rule.

Olivia Coaker did her part at the plate to help herself get a W in the circle, going two-of-three with both hits being doubles, drew a walk, and scored three times. Kayla Dauthier was also two-of-three with two RBI and a run scored. Desiree Squires went one-of-three with a walk and scored twice. Bella Houck, Alyssa Landry, Samantha Cetta, and Shaye Tredinich were all one-for-three with a RBI and a run scored.

Coacker (1-0) enjoyed the dominant lead that she helped create for four of the five innings she worked as she picked up the complete game victory. She allowed five hits and two runs, both earned, and didn't walk or strike out any batters.

The Wildcats (4-7, 1-1 ASC) and War Hawks (1-1, 1-1 ASC) get a busy day of sports at Louisiana College on Saturday underway early as the two teams close out the series with the rubber game set for 10:00 A.M. on Saturday at Wildcat Park.