Duran smashes two home runs, Cougars take down Odessa

               MIDLAND, Texas -- Western Nebraska Community College's Bianca Duran smashed two home runs and the Cougar softball team earned an impressive win over Odessa College 10-7 in the Midland Tournament on Saturday.

               The Cougars, however, couldn't stay unbeaten in the tournament, falling 3-2 in eight innings to Lubbock Christian junior varsity to finish the tournament at 4-1. WNCC will return to action today when they play Midland College in a doubleheader.

               WNCC got the offense cranked up early in the Odessa game in the first five innings. The Cougars took a 1-0 lead in the first on a Duran solo shot and followed that up with a four-run second inning for a  5-1 lead. The second saw the Cougars rap out five hits, including runs-scoring doubles by Angel Council and Lindsey Shiels-Brophy, and another double by Kasey Cash.

               After scoring a single run in the third, the Cougars scored two runs in the fourth on back-to-back home runs by Duran and Jennifer Cottle for an 8-2 lead, before adding two more in the fifth.

               WNCC had four players finish with multiple hits. Jennifer Cottle led the way with a 3-for-4 game with three RBIs and a home run. Duran went 2-for-3 with three RBIs, two runs scored and two home runs, while Council and Danielle Hearn each finished with two hits each.

               Duran picked up the win, going all seven innings. The sophomore from Westminster, Colo., scattered 11 runs, gave up seven runs of which only three were earned, and struck out one.

               The second game was a classic battle between two schools. The Cougars played well except for scoring more runs then Lubbock Christian. The game was a pitcher's duel until the fifth when the Cougars scored twice. Kayla Romey belted a triple to score Melanie Rowson for the first run of the game. Romey came around to score on a Council double.

               Lubbock Christian then scored twice in the sixth before scoring the winning run in the eighth inning.

               Ravae Herrera took the loss in the circle for the Cougars.

               Offensively, the Cougars had seven hits to Lubbock Christian's three.

First Game

WNCC                  141 220 0 -- 10 15 5

Odessa                 102 000 4 -- 7 11 4

WP -- Bianca Duran; 2B -- Angel Council, Kasey Cash, Lindsey Shiels-Brophy, Ravae Herrera; HR -- Duran 2, Jennifer Cottle.

Second Game

WNCC                  000 020 00 -- 2 7 3

LBJV                      000 002 01 -- 3 3 0

LP -- Herrera; 2B -- Council; 3B -- Kayla Romey.