[Softball] Softball Split Decided in Extra Innings

COLUMBIA, S.C. – 22 innings later, the Bryan College softball team split Friday's doubleheader at Appalachian Athletic Conference foe Columbia College. It took extra frames to determine the outcome of both games, beginning with a 5-3 victory for the Lions in the opener thanks to a two-run rally fought for in the top of the ninth. In the nightcap, Bryan entered the bottom of the seventh with a 5-4 advantage, needing just three more outs to register the sweep. Instead, Columbia scraped up the tying run off a pair of hits to force extras. After scoreless eighth and ninth innings, play began to heat up on both sides. Bryan and Columbia were determined to deliver the last punch, as the Lions and Koalas swapped one run apiece in the 10th, 11th, and 12th innings before Bryan finally came up empty in the top of the 13th. In the bottom of the 13th, the Koalas advanced the international tiebreaker runner to third with a sacrifice bunt and sent them the rest of the way home on an RBI single to left-center, concluding the bout with Columbia prevailing 9-8 to avoid the sweep. After each team took a win and loss, the Lions moved to 7-19 overall and 4-8 in AAC compared to the Koalas who changed their overall record to 4-15 and conference record to 2-12.