Cougar softball faced a tough test to open their season on Thursday, facing #2 Point Loma Nazarene on the road.  CSUSM dropped game one 4-0, but were able to rally late to tie game two 4-4 before it was postponed in the sixth inning due to rain.

The first game pitted two of the best pitchers in the NAIA against each other, Point Loma's Taylor Lent and the Cougars' Melissa Lerno.  Not surprisingly, the game proceeded along smoothly through its first three innings, with neither team able to generate much offense.  But Point Loma broke through for three runs in the fourth, with Tracy Dean providing the big hit with a two-RBI single.

Meanwhile, the Cougars were able to get nothing going against Lent, who threw six innings of three-hit shutout ball.  Alyssa Dronenberg, Mimi Krutein, and Lauren Nelson were the only Cougars to record hits.

CSUSM rebounded nicely in game two though, before the rain proved to be too much.  Freshman Ciera Ashman looked good in her first career start, striking out the side in the first inning en route to throwing 5.2 innings while allowing just one earned run.

The Cougars got out to an early lead, with Elizabeth Bush leading off the third with a double, Krutein moving her over with a single, and newcomer Alicia Vicencio delivering an RBI double.  It was Vicenico's first hit as a Cougar.

Point Loma tied it in the fourth, and took a 3-1 lead in the fifth on a throwing error.  But once again CSUSM showed it resilience, re-taking the lead in a wild sixth inning that featured another hit by Vicencio, an RBI double by Nelson, and a pair of errors.  Point Loma tied it back up in the bottom of the inning, and the game was called with two outs and the bases loaded.

Update:  Game two will be resumed prior to the double-header at Mission Hills on April 18th.