COCHRAN, Ga.— On Friday and Saturday, the Montreat softball team traveled to Georgia for doubleheaders against the Albany State University Rams and the Middle Georgia State University Knights. With 7-5 and 8-6 defeats versus the Rams and 10-1 and 8-0 losses against the Knights, Montreat dropped to 1-10 to begin the year.
 
The Cavaliers started hot in game one of the twin bill against Albany State, jumping out to a 5-0 lead over the Rams. Montreat notched a pair of runs from RBI hits off the bats of Abigail Christopher and Leyna Gould in the opening frame before plating another three in the second inning. AJ Martin Aiken knocked in Alyssa Hudson, and Christopher registered her second RBI single, this time scoring both Cameryn Bass and Isabella Colbert, to round out the tallies for the Cavs.
 
Albany State (14-0) then started its comeback, trimming Montreat's advantage to just two runs through three innings. A passed ball in the fourth followed by a home run put the home team up 6-5 before the Rams closed out the game with an insurance run in the fifth.
 
Abigail Christopher (2-4) was the only Cavalier with multiple hits, while also notching two RBIs and a run scored.
 
Game two featured more of the same from game one, as the Cavs used RBI singles from Martin Aiken and Bass to lead 2-0 after two. After a three-run shot by Albany State in the third, Katie Johnson drove in Keelie Mauk on a sacrifice fly to left that tied the game at three.
 
The Rams plated five runs over the next three frames to hold an 8-3 advantage with an inning to play. Montreat responded with a trio of scores in the top of the final frame, but Jayda Treaster and Bass' hits weren't enough to put the Cavaliers ahead as the team fell 8-6.
 
Eight different Cavs had hits in the contest, led by Bass, who went 3-for-4 with three RBIs.
 
On Saturday, the Cavaliers got on the board first in game one of their doubleheader with MGSU. Three two-out base knocks produced Montreat's tally as Savannah Pruitt drove in Christopher in the bottom of the first.
 
The Cavs' advantage was short-lived, however, as the Knights piled on five runs in the second and another four in the third to go up 9-1. En route to a nine-run victory, Middle Georgia added a single run in the fourth to close out the game.
 
In game two, MGSU (13-1) went up 3-0 in the bottom of the initial inning before adding a fourth run in the second. The Knights put pressure on the Cavaliers in the bottom of the fourth, plating four runs to lead 8-0 heading into the top of the fifth.
 
Though Colbert broke up the no-hitter with an infield single in what turned out to be the final half inning, Montreat could not extend the competition as the team fell by eight.
 
Softball now faces No. 21 Milligan University in Tennessee on Thursday. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.