COLUMBUS, Ga. — In a back-and-forth battle at the NFCA Leadoff Classic at South Commons Complex, the College of Coastal Georgia softball team held on for a 4-3 victory over Louisiana Christian on Friday afternoon, improving to 11-0 on the season. McKenzie Collins earned the win in the circle before Rylee Mills came on to close the door and earn her first save of the year.
Collins worked 5.2 innings in a grind-it-out performance, allowing three earned runs on seven hits while striking out two. She was tested throughout, particularly in the third inning when Louisiana Christian rallied to tie the game at two, but she kept competing and gave the Mariners exactly what they needed to stay in front. With two outs in the sixth and the tying run on base, Collins handed the ball to Mills, who was nothing short of dominant in relief. The junior right-hander retired all five batters she faced across 1.1 innings, striking out one and throwing just 19 pitches to lock down the win.
CCGA struck first in the top of the first when Emma Jones worked a walk, advanced on a wild pitch, and came around to score on a Rily Andrews single up the middle. The Mariners added another run in the third on an Andrews sacrifice fly that plated Jones again, who had reached with a single and advanced on a Rylee Mills hit. Andrews finished the day quietly in the box score but quietly impactful, driving in two of the team's four runs with a pair of productive outs.
Louisiana Christian responded in the bottom of the third to knot the game. A wild pitch scored one run, and an I. Battaglia double down the left field line brought home another to tie it at two. The game remained deadlocked until the sixth inning, when the Mariners broke through with two crucial runs. Avery Callaway and Emerson Askew set the table with back-to-back singles, and Rylie Smith came through with a fielder's choice RBI that put CCGA back ahead. Ella Romano then singled to load the bases, and Kaitlyn Carolino drew a bases-loaded walk to score the fourth run and give the Mariners some breathing room.
Louisiana Christian refused to go quietly, however, answering in the bottom of the sixth when K. Daigle doubled home a run to make it 4-3 and set up a tense final inning. That's when Mills took over, retiring the Wildcats in order in the seventh — including a stranded M. Baldwin double — to seal the victory.
Callaway was one of the offensive heroes off the bench, going 2-for-2 after entering the game and scoring once, while Askew continued to make the most of her late-game opportunities with a key single in the sixth. Jones was effective at the top of the order as well, finishing 2-for-3 with two runs scored and showing the kind of on-base consistency that makes her a difficult out. With the hard-fought win, Coastal Georgia remains undefeated at 11-0 and continues to show the resilience and depth of a team with genuine championship aspirations.
