Cougars Claim 20th AMC Championship with Win Over Cottey

BRANSON, Mo. - Columbia College softball team defeated Cottey College, 5-1, on Friday at the Branson Rec Plex to claim the American Midwest Conference Tournament Championship which is the program's 20th all-time.

• Ella Schouten capped the tournament run going 4-0 with three earned runs allowed, 30 strikeouts and 27.0 innings pitched across four starts
• Rosalie Schneider's two-run double in the first inning put Columbia in front for good, finishing 1-for-4 with two RBI
• Kennedy Schanuth doubled to left-center for an RBI in the third and finished 1-for-4; Sophia Angel added an RBI single and scored
• Abigail Zismer reached base three times (3 BB), scored and stole a base; Taryn Hargadt scored and swiped two bags
• Cassidy Avery doubled to right field to ignite the third-inning rally; Avery hit safely in all four tournament games
• Columbia pitching held Cottey to zero earned runs in two championship matchups this week
• Schouten (W, 15-5): 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 SO
• Cottey's lone run came in the fourth on an unearned sequence. Makayla Snyder laced a two-run double to right-center to score Amelia Gassman, who had reached on an error. Snyder finished the day 2-for-3 with one RBI
• Estelle Audette recorded one hit for the Comets
• Addison Tippie, Tatianna Colegrove and Gassman combined for 7.0 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 5 BB, 1
• The Cougars out-hit the Comets, 6-3
• The Cougars finish the tournament at 4-0 and improve to 27-13 overall.
• The Comets closed their season with a 36-10 record.

The Cougars will learn their opponent during the NAIA Selection Show on May 6 at 5 p.m. on the NAIA YouTube page.

The Williams Baptist Eagles also earned an automatic bid to the National Tournament as they were the regular season champions.