Softball | 3/21/2022 10:49:00 AM

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Panthers Fall Short to Cowley College
 
Arkansas City, KS (March 19, 2022) – Panthers softball fell short in two close games with Cowley College Saturday afternoon (CCC 7, NCCC 5) and (CCC 3, NCCC 2). With multiple lead changes on the day, the Tigers pull away with two wins, with game two being one on a walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh.
 
How it Happened:
Cowley got ahead early with a solo home run in the first inning. The Tigers then got one more in the second inning before the Panthers came back.
 
Espy Daniels and Devynn Raile get consecutive singles to lead off the third, for Hannah Duin to homer to left field to take the lead 3-2. Cowley quickly answered back, hitting a 2-run homer and a solo shot to regain the lead 5-3.
 
Scoring two more in the fifth, the Panthers showed signs of a possible comeback scoring two runs in the sixth inning. Coming in the game to pinch-hit, Zoe Newcomb draws a walk to get things going. Followed by a Daniels single and Duin walk, Olivia Cummings came through with a hard ground ball to force an error on the third basemen to plate two runs. With runs there for the taking, the Panthers fell shy of the needed clutch hit to secure the win.
 
In the Circle:
Cassidy Paulson started game one for the Panthers. Paulson went two and a third innings, allowing five runs on four hits. Lauren Fuller came in throwing three and two-thirds innings from the bullpen, giving up two runs on three hits.
 
With her first start as a Panther, Ellie Kuntz was on the mound for game two. Throwing the full six innings, Kuntz was able to keep Cowley off balance most of the game by giving up eight hits and holding them to three runs, only two of them being earned runs.
 
Game Two:
The second game of the day ended up being a pitching duel. Cowley was able to hold off the Panther's offense while Kuntz kept the Tigers from stringing any big innings together leaving them with sporadic hits until the end.
 
The Panthers went up early 1-0 on a sac fly by Duin. A solo shot from Cowley tied it up 1-1 in the third.
 
In the sixth inning, the Panthers went up again with a sacrifice fly by Katie Boline after Duin and Cummings had back-to-back hits. An error in the bottom of the sixth led to Cowley tying it back up 2-2 before hitting a walk-off homer to seal the win in the seventh inning.