BRUNSWICK, Ga. - The College of Coastal Georgia softball team split their Friday afternoon doubleheader with the New College of Florida Mighty Banyan.
Three runs got it done for both sides in their respective games, as the Mariners (30-13, 11-9 SUN) took game one but were unable to hold off the Mighty Banyan (15-24, 8-15 SUN) in game two of the series.
GAME ONE: CCGA 3, NCF 2
It was a game of swings in the series opener as the Mariners controlled the opening innings and had to hold off a fury of offense from the Mighty Banyan in the final innings.
Emma Jones continued to swing a hot bat in game one, starting the game with a one out single. Jones finished the afternoon 1-4 from the plate while scoring a run as she is trying to follow up an 11-15 performance a week ago.
In the second inning of the game, Alyssa Haggerty got the Mariners started on offense with a two out solo home run to give CCGA a 1-0 lead. It was the first home run of the season for the senior and her first career home run with just six games left in her final regular season.
In the third, the Mariners took advantage of two errors by the NCF defense to set the stage for Rylee Mills, who delivered a two RBI double to make the score 3-0 in the third.
Mills cruised through four innings, but in the fifth, the Mighty Banyan got their first run of the afternoon as they took advantage of an error from CCGA to get on the board,
With head coach Mike Minick looking to save his ace, he turned to freshman Emilia Clemons to get the final six outs of the game. The outs did not come easy, however, as Clemons found trouble in the seventh inning. A leadoff double eventually came around to score, but NCF had to use two outs to get her in as Clemons was able to work around the one run in the inning and hang on to her second save of the season as CCGA took game one 3-2.
Mills picked up win number 13 in the circle on the season, matching her win total from a season ago. With her 26th career win in the circle, Mills is now in sole fourth place all time for career wins. The three names ahead of Mills on the list are all household names for the softball program in the form of Hayley Dickerson, Paige Alt, and Bryce Peacock.
Mills also went 2-3 from the plate, securing two of the five hits for CCGA in the game while also driving in two of the three runs for the Mariners.
GAME TWO: CCGA 0, NCF 3
While the Mariners ended up outhitting the Mighty Banyan in game two, the runs never came for CCGA as they were shutout in the back half of the doubleheader.
The Mariners got four of their seven hits in the first four innings, even getting a runner to third in the fourth inning with just one out, but could not push any runs across in the game.
NCF used two Mariner errors in the bottom of the sixth inning to score their three runs of the game, only getting two hits in the inning, both singles.
McKenzie Collins started game two in the circle, going six innings allowing six hits, three runs, two earned, no walks, and five strikeouts in her sixth loss of the season.
Mills once again went 2-3 in the game, but was flanked by Ella Romano who went 2-2 in her first start in the month of April.
The two teams will play the rubber match of the series Saturday morning from Sarasota. First pitch is set for 11:00 a.m.
