Comets softball splits Coffeyville at home

In their final home doubleheader of the fall "preseason," the Cottey College Comets softball team played in front of a capacity crowd of very supportive fans, earning a split against the Coffeyville Community College (Kan.) Ravens Sunday afternoon.

The Ravens are coached by a familiar face to many Nevada residents, Ryan McCune. McCune is a former Nevada Griffons player, assistant coach and head coach.

The Comets struggled in the first game of the day as the Ravens seemed to be sitting on nearly every pitch that sophomore Megan Steffens threw. The Ravens struck first in the opening frame as the Comets committed their first error of the day, allowing freshman Amber Allen to come around and score.

Steffens was able to keep her composure and kept the Ravens from doing any further damage in the frame, taking the game into the bottom of the first with a 1-0 deficit.

The Comets were unable to get anything going against the strong Ravens defense as Taylor Medler put on a clinic from the pitching circle. The Comets remained off-balance until the third inning when freshman Charity Malbauer became the second player of the game to score as a direct result of a defensive misstep.

The Ravens wasted little time taking advantage of the Comets' offensive struggles as they were able to add to their lead in each of the first four innings. The Comets continually struggled throughout the game on defense, as well as with the home run ball.

Sami Jo Robertson hit the first of Coffeyville's two home runs in the second as she blasted a 3-2 pitch over the wall in left field. In the top of the third, Shandi Crossley followed Robertson's example with a home run of her own to deep right center -- this time with one runner on base -- to give the Ravens a 4-1 lead heading into the home half of the third.

The Comets got one of those runs back in the home half of the fifth as Kylie Robbins hit a solo home run of her own to left field, but that was as close as they got as the Ravens added two runs in the fourth and one in the fifth to take the win by a final score of 7-2.

"They (Coffeyville) hit the ball real well and we were working everything we could," Comets head coach Greg Tietz said. "Megan throws seven different pitches and they were hitting them all."

The second game of the day was an entirely different story as Jamie Penick took the pitching circle for the Comets and got off to a quick start, keeping the Ravens off balance throughout the game.

In a much lower scoring affair, the Ravens were able to strike first in the fourth inning as an error by catcher Lauren Akin allowed Taylor Graham to score. Penick was able to keep her composure and went on to shut the Ravens down from that point on, keeping the Comets well within striking distance.

The Comets wasted little time getting that run back as Candy Price drove a double to deep left center to bring in Penick. The Comets went on to put the game away in the bottom of the sixth inning with a string of four consecutive hits that ultimately led to two runs, giving Cottey a 3-1 victory.

"I talked about in between games, let's just keep on doing what we're doing. Keep the pedal to the metal, stay up, let's go at them, be aggressive," Tietz said. "I had them swinging on the first pitch there on some of them and got some good shots there and got some timely hits with runners on base.

"Second game, we saw the ball much better, hit the ball much better and ran the bases better."

With the split, the Comets concluded the fall portion of the 2009-'10 softball season and will begin the regular spring season at Park Hills, Mo., when they take of Mineral Area Community College on Feb. 20, 2010.