COLUMBIA, S.C. -  It was a 2-0 start to the Cola Classic Round Robin for the College of Coastal Georgia softball team as they defeated the Columbia College Koalas by a final of 8-0 before defeating the Spartanburg Methodist Pioneers by a final of 8-2 on Friday night in Columbia, S.C.

GAME ONE: CCGA 8, Columbia College 0

Rylee Mills, who made the start in the circle as well for the Mariners (1-1), made the only noise in the first inning for either side with a two out single into right center field, but Andrews flied out to left field to end the inning as the game went into the second tied at zero. 

In the second, Mills allowed a one out single which hit her in the leg, but the sophomore bounced back and turned a 1-3 double play to end the inning and send her offense back out to give her some run support.

In the bottom half, Rylie Smith stepped up big time and delivered her first career home run over the left field fence to give the Mariners a 1-0 lead. CCGA was not done in the inning, getting a double from Emma Jones, a walk from Ella Romano, and another double, this time from Kaitlyn Carolino, which scored Jones to give the Mariners a 2-0 lead. Alyssa Haggerty grounded out to end the inning, but the damage was done as CCGA took a 2-0 lead into the third. 

As Mills fired another 1-2-3 inning in the top of the third, she led off the bottom half with a single for her second hit of the game, looking to add on and give herself some insurance runs. In what turned out to be a four run inning, four straight Mariners reached base with Smith and Andrews both hitting two run home runs in the process to give the Mariners a 6-0 lead before the Koalas recorded an out in the inning. The Mariners got some more traffic on the bases in the inning but could not push any more runs across, sending Mills back out to the mound now with a 6-0 lead.

Neither side did any damage in the fourth, and with Mills throwing up another zero in the top of the fifth, the Mariners put the final nail in the coffin. With two outs in the inning needing just two runs to end the game after five innings, the Mariners came through. Carolino singled and stole second, coming around to score on a pinch hit RBI single from Zoe Johnston-Hadaway. One batter later, Mills sent her fourth hit of the game to right cetner, scoring Johnston-Hadaway from first and ending the game at five innings with the Mariners winning 8-0.

Three Mariners recorded two or more hits in the game, led by Mills who went 4-4, the second time she has accomplished that feat in her young career. Smith ended the game 2-2 with two home runs, becoming just the eighth player in school history to hit two home runs in a single game. Mills pitched another complete game, going five innings allowing just one hit and no runs with no walks and two strikeouts.  

The Mariners tagged the Koala's pitching staff for 11 hits, their most in a game since April 20 when they scored 11 hits off of Southeastern. The Mariners now move to 4-1 all time against Columbia College, with their last three wins being shutout victories. Columbia has not scored against CCGA since 2013.

GAME TWO: CCGA 8, Spartanburg Methodist 2

Game two of the double header started out perfectly for the Mariners (3-1), now playing as the visiting team, as they struck for a pair of runs to take an early advantage. After Carolino drew a leadoff walk, Brooke Perdue singled to the catcher allowing Carolino to move up to third. Carolino came around to score on a wild pitch, and Mills sent a sac fly out to center field to score Perdue, giving starting pitcher Collins a two run lead for her first start of her career.

Trying to shake off the appearance from a week ago, Collins settled in after allowing a leadoff single to get the next three Pioneer hitters in a row, sending the game to the second inning with CCGA leading 2-0.

After Johnston-Hadaway singled with two outs in the top of the second and got nothing from it, Collins worked around a pair of singles with some help from her defense to send the game to the third with the Mariners still leading 2-0.

CCGA wasted no time getting more insurance runs in the top of the third as Perdue tripled to right field and came around to score one batter later on an RBI double from Mills to make the score 3-0. In the bottom of the third, the Pioneers got on the board for the first time, using a double from Handy to cut into the lead going into the fourth as CCGA led 3-1. 

Jones started the fourth inning with a single into center followed by Collins reaching on an error, putting two runners on with no outs in the inning. While the inning looked promising, even with both runners getting to scoring position, the Mariners were unable to add on in the top half of the fourth inning.  In the bottom half of the inning, Collins allowed a leadoff single which stole second, but great defense from the Mariners and timely pitching from Collins helped the freshman escape and keep the two run lead intact going into the fifth.

Mackenzie Southerland picked up her first hit of the night in the top of the fifth with two outs in the inning with Smith following with a single of her own, putting two on with two out in the inning. After both advanced 60 feet with a wild pitch, Jones picked up a big time single into left center scoring both to make the score 5-1. Collins worked another clean inning in the bottom half to send the game to the sixth with the score 5-1.

With two outs in the sixth inning, the Mariners were needing some run support and they got it big time. Perdue got on with a single and promptly stole second base. After moving to third on a wild pitch, Mills drove in her third run of the game to make the score 6-1. Just one batter later, Andrews blasted her second home run of the day and her first of the second game, making the score 8-1 going into the bottom half.

In the bottom half, SMC got one of their runs back after a leadoff double came around to score in the inning. Emilia Clemons, who came in relief for Collins in the sixth, retired the first three batters she faced to end the threat and send the game into the seventh with the Mariners leading 8-2. 

In the seventh, Smith earned a walk that could not come around to score, leaving CCGA with a six run lead needing just three outs to secure their second win of the day. Clemons went back out and worked around a leadoff walk to get the next three batters in a row to end the game and give the Mariners their fourth win of the season.

Perdue finished the game 3-4 with three runs scored and one stolen base, while Mills finished 2-3 with three RBI's; six of the nine Mariners in the lineup recorded at least one hit in the contest. 

Collins picked up win number one as a collegiate softball player, going five innings while allowing seven hits, one earned run with no walks. Clemons shut the door over the final two innings, allowing no runs and no hits on one walk and three strikeouts.

The Mariners return for day two of the Cola Classic Round Robin tomorrow as they take on Brewton-Parker at 10:00 a.m. followed by a 3:00 p.m. showdown with Columbia International. Both games will be played at Columbia International.