FREDERICK, Md.--The Hood College softball team (1-3) presented first-year head coach Kate Barrick with her first head coaching victory in dramatic fashion over the Columbia Union College Pioneers (1-1) at the Hood College softball field Sunday. The Blazers won the first game 6-5 with clutch hitting in the bottom of the seventh before falling 14-1 in five innings in the nightcap.

Senior Alecia Weddle delivered a one-out two-run double to the gap in right-center in the bottom of the seventh which lifted the Blazers to a come-from-behind victory in the opener. The Pioneers did their damage early, plating all five runs in the first two innings. Christina Smith and Tania Little both tripled in runs and Cherrae Freeman had an RBI-double in the first inning, while Smith and Jenna Pickel cranked solo homeruns in the second inning to stake the visitors to a 5-0 lead.

The Blazers got one back when Steph Gardner scored as a result of a Pickel fielding error in center.

Jamie Gardner allowed just four Pioneer hits over the final five innings and kept CUC off the scoreboard down the stretch. Meanwhile, the Blazer bats came alive in the third inning as Steph Gardner doubled in Ashley Lenhart from first and came around to score her second run of the ballgame after her sister Jamie laced a single up the middle.

After a scoreless fourth, the Blazers pulled within a run of tying things up when Sara Wastler scored as a result of another Pioneer miscue in the outfield.

Trailing 5-4 in the bottom of the seventh, Steph Gardner reached on an error by Little in left. Wastler then ripped a double down the right field line and Gardner held up at third. After Jamie Gardner popped up to short for the first out, Weddle stepped in and blasted the Stephanie Chapman offering out of the reach of second baseman Taylor Machain and into right-centerfield. Gardner scored easily and Wastler hustled around from second to score the winning run.

Wastler was 3-for-4 with two runs scored to lead the Blazer attack. Jamie Gardner earned her first victory of the season allowing five runs on 10 hits with six strikeouts and four walks. She also helped her own cause by collecting a pair of basehits and drove in a run.

In the nightcap, Columbia Union scored at least two runs in each frame of the five-inning affair. Chapman surrendered just three Blazers bashits in the ballgame and held Hood scoreless for the first four-and-two-thirds innings. Lenhart drove in Jamie Gardner with an infield single in the bottom of the fifth with two outs to avoid the shutout.

CUC's Smith belted a pair of homers and drove in six runs while Freeman hit a grand slam in the top of the fifth to power the Pioneers to the victory.

The Blazers travel to Gallaudet University Friday for their Capital Athletic Conference debut. The first game of the doubleheader is slated for 2:30 p.m. in Washington, D.C.