COLUMBIA - Columbia College senior pitcher Paxton Welch picked up a pair of wins in the opening round of the NAIA national championships this week at Antimi Softball Complex.
Welch (Helias High School) pitched a five-inning perfect game Monday in the Cougars' 8-0 first-round win against Cumberlands (Ky.), striking out five of the 15 batters she faced.
Junior Allyson Metz (Jefferson City High School) went 2-for-3 with a run scored in the Cougars' win. Junior Karli Leeper (South Callaway High School) had one run scored and one RBI and junior Dakota Newton (Jefferson City High School) also scored a run as a pinch runner.
Leeper is batting .356 (57-for-160) with 32 runs scored and 24 RBI this season.
Metz then powered the Cougars to a 9-0 win Tuesday against Grand View (Iowa), going 3-for-4 at the plate with a two-run double in the fifth inning. Metz is batting .407 (66-for-162) with 57 RBI and 17 doubles this year.
Newton entered the game as a pinch runner in the second inning, getting a stolen base and a run scored. She has 11 runs scored and five stolen bases this season.
Welch pitched another complete game in Wednesday's championship game, which Columbia College won 4-1 against Mobile (Ala.) to take the opening-round title.
Welch allowed one run on seven hits with three walks and four strikeouts. She improved her season record to 21-4 and lowered her ERA to 1.40. Welch has 111 strikeouts in 1542/3 innings pitched.
Columbia College (46-5) received the No. 2 seed in the 10-team College World Series, which begins Friday, May 26 at Clearmont, Fla. The Cougars earned a first-round bye in the double-elimination tournament and will play the winner of No. 7 Warner (Fla.) and No. 10 Ottawa (Kan.) at 4 p.m. Saturday, May 27.