The sophomores were recognized prior to the start of Saturday's softball doubleheader at Crowder College when the Roughriders played host to St. Charles Community College.
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And it was a sophomore who got their scoring started on the way to a doubleheader sweep.
Carly Cook singled in the bottom of the first and her line drive into center field scored Josie Henson to make it 3-1. The Roughriders went on to tally five runs in the inning and didn't trail the rest of the game on the way to a 10-5 victory.
Sophomore Layla Pasley doubled to right field and drove in two runs to tie the game at 3-3. Her teammate and fellow second-year Roughrider, Evelyn Comstock grounded out to shortstop but brought in the fourth run of the inning as Madeleif Croonen scored from third base to make it 4-3.
The fifth and final run came off of a sacrifice bunt by Olivia Hemme, scoring Pasley.
Another sophomore, Callie Cooper, doubled in Cook in the fourth inning which made the score 8-4 in favor of Crowder.
Cook led the team in Game 1 going 3 for 4 at the plate with four runs scored. Henson was 2 for 4, Cooper was 2 for 2 with two walks and Comstock finished 2 for 3 with a walk.
Tessa Groeneveld pitched the first 2 1/3 innings while Hemme logged the last 4 2/3 innings.
Game 2
After the alumni players — the "ghostriders" — and the 1986 national championship team were recognized, it was time for Game 2 to begin.
The Roughriders quickly fell behind 8-1 as that was the score after the top of the second. Seven of the eight runs allowed were unearned.
But Groeneveld took over in the circle in the middle of the second inning as the third pitcher of the game and was able to shut things down.
Crowder responded by scoring two runs in the home half of the third and five more in the fifth to tie the game.
The score stayed tied at 8-8 until the bottom of the 10th when the Roughriders walked it off. Hemme pitched the final 1 1/3 innings to earn the win for Crowder.
Crowder improves to 21-20-1 on the season and is now 6-6 in Region 16 play. The Cougars are now 22-12 and 5-7 in Region 16.