MARION, N.C.— The Montreat softball team began an 8-game homestand on Saturday as it hosted the Columbia College Koalas for an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) doubleheader at Big League Camp in Marion, N.C. As the Cavaliers won the latter contest in a pair of 1-0 shutouts, Montreat saw its record move to 7-28 (3-13 AAC) on the year.
 
Game one proved to be a pitchers' duel as both starters went the distance in a 1-run ballgame. For Kyann Lyne, that meant surrendering just a single run on six hits while striking out four Koalas.
 
Columbia (13-15, 4-10) plated the only run in game one after notching its initial hit of the contest. A leadoff double to start the top of the third gave the Koalas a scoring opportunity, and a 2-out single to left put the visitors on top, 1-0.
 
Montreat had a few opportunities to level the score as the hosts had at least one runner on base in all seven innings. The Cavaliers also had a runner in scoring position in three consecutive frames from the second through the fourth; however, the Cavs went 0-for-6 during those situations as Columbia pitched its way out of a handful of jams to defeat Montreat, 1-0.
 
Taylor Yonke (2-4) and Bella Colbert (2-3) combined for four of the Cavaliers' five hits, while Lyne threw her third complete game of the season.
 
Not to be outdone, Deanna Waddell excelled for Montreat in the pitcher's circle in game two. The upperclassman from Concord, N.C. scattered six hits across seven innings of work as she kept the Columbia offense quiet throughout the entirety of her start.
 
Coleena Selleck handed the hosts their first run of the day in the bottom of the initial frame. Following a 2-out double off the bat of Alyssa Hudson, Selleck drove the ball into center for the 1-0 Cavalier lead.
 
Both offenses struggled to string together hits as the starting pitchers limited their opposition. The Koalas had a runner on base in every inning after the first, but Waddell eliminated the danger each time. A double play in the top of the seventh ended Columbia's hopes of a comeback, and the Cavs earned a 1-0 victory and AAC doubleheader split as a result.
 
Offensively, Samantha Browning (2-3) proved to be the lone Cavalier with multiple hits, while Keelie Mauk went 1-for-1 at the plate with a walk.
 
The Montreat softball team continues its homestand with a doubleheader tomorrow afternoon versus the Bluefield University Rams. First pitch of game one is slated for 2:00 p.m. in Black Mountain, N.C.