Cleveland State Softball saw their season come to an end going 1-2 in the TCCAA NJCAA Region VII Tournament, played in Gallatin Tennessee and hosted by Volunteer State Sunday May 7-Friday May 12.
The Cougars who finished with an overall 2023 record of 32-18 lost a one run game 4-3 to Dyersburg State to start the tournament then followed with a 14-0 win over Roane State and finally ended with a 17-7 loss to Volunteer State.
Game Recap vs Dyersburg State
Seeded fifth in the tournament Cleveland State played fourth seed Dyersburg State and eventually lost 4-3 over a two-day span as the game was suspended on day one due to weather with Dyersburg leading 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning.
The Cougars who banged out 11 hits on the game to Dyersburg five, scored one in the first inning and another in the fourth to take a 2-0 lead. Dyersburg answered back in their half of the fourth scoring one and added two more in the fifth.
After a Dyersburg led off with a single in the bottom of the sixth the game was suspended until the following day. With the game finally starting at 4:00 p.m. Dyersburg took a 4-2 lead going into the seventh inning. Bailee Phillips put a charge into the ball sending it over the left field fence in what would be the final run for the Cougars.
Hope Ingle and Phillips each had three hits while Duck Higgins had two. Finishing out the 11-hit attack with one hit each were Carlynn Atamaniuk, Shelby Sullivan and Kristen Fowler.
Game Recap vs Roane State
It took the Cougars five innings to win vs Roane State 14-0 as they scored five in the second inning, two in the third and seven in the fifth all on 14 hits. Hadley Burnette pitched the shutout for Cleveland State giving up just one hit on the game.
Sullivan drove in four of the Cougar runs with a bases loaded walk and a three-run homer in the fifth inning. Fowler was 4-for-4 with a double, triple and two RBI's while Phillips had two hits in plating a run. Rounding out the hitting included one hit each from Ingle, Atamaniuk, Higgins and Ally Starnes. Whitney Lee drove in a run on a Sacrifice Fly to Centerfield.
Game Recap vs Volunteer State
The Cougars lost a slugfest to Volunteer State 17-7 in a game where Cleveland State jumped off to a 6-1 lead going into the fourth inning. Vol came back with five runs to tie the score at six which would stay that way until the top of the sixth when Volunteer exploded for 11 runs leading to the loss and the Cougar elimination from the double elimination tournament.
Cleveland State had 11 hits led by Ingle who had two including a homerun along with two hits from Phillips, Higgins and Fowler. Atamaniuk, Ally Starnes and Taylor Hancock each chipped in with one.
