Finishing a eight-game road schedule 6-2, the Neosho County Community College softball team swept Independence Community College in Independence Friday and split with traditional Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference East power Cowley Community College in Arkansas City Saturday.
The Panthers beat Independence 5-0 in game one and 5-1 in the game two. Neosho defeated Cowley 17-9 in a run rule shortened game two and fell 10-9 in game one.
In the game one shutout of Independence, Neosho scored two in the top of the third and fourth innings and one run in the fifth. 
Meaghan Thompson (12-8) earned the win in a complete game, two hit shutout, striking out seven.
Neosho's Nia Maxwell went yard, finishing game one 2-for-3 with two RBis and a run scored. Amanda Rodriguez drove in a run and scored a run, but went 0-for-4 at the plate. Taylor Bolden was 2-for-3 with a RBI and run scored.
In game two, Neosho scored a run in the top of the first and four in the top of third. Independence scored its lone run in the bottom of the third.
"Independence, we did all right," Neosho Head Softball Coach Kim Alexander said Monday. "We did the things we needed to do. We still left a lot of base runners on, but when we scored when we needed to score and all in all had a pretty good day on Friday." 
Lexie Heiniger (8-3) picked up the win with a complete game. Heiniger allowed six hits and one run while striking out four. 
Karolyna Gomez drove in two runs with a 3-for-4 performance at the plate. Tia Parker had a RBI and a run scored batting 2-for-4. Becki Hendrickson was 1-for-2 with a RBI. Jozie Garner was 0-for-2 with a RBI.
The Panthers continued their hot hitting in Ark City Saturday, scoring nine runs against Cowley in game one and 17 runs in game two.
Cowley scored the winning runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh for the game one victory.
The Panthers gave up four runs in the Tigers final at bat.
"We just couldn't push that last out against Cowley on Saturday," Alexander said. "We were up going into the seventh inning and had two outs and just for some reason couldn't get that final out."
Thompson (12-9) was given the loss in a complete game performance in which she allowed 13 hits, nine runs and walked four. She struck out one.
Maxwell was 2-for-4 with three RBIs and her second home run in two days. Bolden also went yard, batting 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Bolden also had a triple. Crawford was 1-for-3 with a RBI and a run scored. Rodriguez went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Garner smacked a triple.
In game two, the Panthers exploded offensively in the top of the first, scoring nine runs. Cowley scored three in the bottom of the first. The Panthers scored four more in the third and fourth. Cowley scored four in the fourth, but it wasn't enough to extend the game. The game ended after five due to the run rule.
"We hit well," Alexander said. "We just need to pick up our defense a little bit and continue swinging it like we did and we'll be right there."
Heiniger (9-3) grabbed the win withe a complete game performance. She allowed nine runs on 12 hits, struck out one and walked one. 
Gomez drove in seven runs, batting 4-for-4 from the plate and scored two runs. Bolden was 4-for-4 with two RBIs. Maxwell was 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Tiara Ewy went 4-for-5 with a RBI and a run scored. Crawford was 1-for-3 with a RBI and a run scored. Rodriguez was 2-for-3 with a RBI and a run scored. Garner went 0-for-3 with an RBI.
The Panthers return home on a hot streak, hosting National Junior College Athletic Association Div. II No. 5 Highland Community College today. Neosho is not scared of ranked teams, having split with No. 7 Johnson County Community College and No. 17 Labette Community College this season.
"It feels good to be able to play on our home field and hopefully get some good weather and have some fan support and get two against Highland," Alexander said.
First pitch is at 3 p.m.