No. 8 Co-Lin loses a heartbreaker to No. 2 Jones

EUNICE, Louisiana – The No. 8 Co-Lin Lady Wolves lost a heartbreak to the No. 2 Jones College Lady Bobcats 7-5 in 10 innings in the National Junior College Athletic Association's Region 23 Tournament (NJCAA) hosted by LSU-Eunice. The Lady Wolves (32-10) will face the Gulf Coast in an elimination game at 6 p.m.

"Today was super tough," said Co-Lin head coach Meleah Howard. "We battled for 10 innings against a really good Jones team and just couldn't find a way to get off the field when we needed to."

After three scoreless innings, Tia'Rain Saunders had an RBI single to give Gulf Coast a 1-0 lead.

The Lady Wolves would answer with two runs in the bottom of the fourth. Carlon Brabham (Amite, LA/Oak Forest High School) singled to center. Abigail Carter (Mendenhall/Simpson Academy) hit a home run over the center field wall to give Co-Lin a 2-1 lead.

Jones tied the game a 2-all in the top of the sixth inning on Kat Knight's RBI single to center.

Co-Lin took a 5-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning. Madalyn Wilkinson (Madison/Germantown High School) reached on an error by the shortstop. Braham followed with a two-run home run to put the Lady Wolves up 4-2. Carter followed with a solo home run to push the lead to 5-2.

In the top of the seventh for Gulf Coast, Nia Luckett singled. Lauren Lindsey grounded into a fielder's choice. Lauren Pope singled and pinch runner Jones advanced to third. Mycah Hall's RBI single cut the Co-Lin lead to 5-3. Knight's two-RBI single tied the game at 5-5.

After two scoreless innings. The Lady Bobcats took the lead for good scoring two runs in the top of the 10^th inning. Saunders singled and advanced to second on the throw. Pinch hitter Skylar Mclellan's single drove in Saunders. Kat Wallace was reinserted into the game for Mclellan. She stole third and home to give the Lady Bobcats 7-5.

Blanchard (15-4) took the loss for the Lady Wolves. She gave up seven runs (six earned), 11 hits, struck out 10 and walked two.

Sterling James picked up the win for Jones. She relieved the starter Luckett in the seventh inning. Luckett allowed five runs (two earned), five hits, struck out 11 and walked none in 7.1 innings of work.

At the plate for Co-Lin, Carter hit two home runs and three RBIs. Brabham had a home run and a single and two RBIs. Shelbi Maxwell (Wesson/Wesson High School) had a single.

For Jones, Cole was 3-for-5 with a double and a pair of singles. Knight and Saunders had a pair of hits each. Adding support with a hit apiece were Luckett, Pope, Hall and Mclellan.