SALISBURY, NC -- Catawba and visiting Coker battled to a split in a softball doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Whitley Field.  The Catawba Indians won the opener 6-1, while the Cobras gained the split with a 5-3 win in game two.  Catawba now stands at 3-1, while Coker is 1-1.

 
Catawba struck for three runs in the third inning of the opener.  Jacqueline White (Mt. Ulla, NC/W. Rowan HS) drew a leadoff walk and Allie Marshall (Pleasant Garden, NC/SE Guilford) doubled.  Ryann Baker (Rockwell, NC/E. Rowan HS) doubled to plate pinch-runner Carly Sabot (Warren, OH/Howland HS) and Sarah VanBuskirk (Lutz, FL/Wesley Chapel HS) singled home the final two runs.
 
Jennifer Diemer (Arnold, MD) drove home a run for Coker with a single in the fourth, but the Lady Indians got a three-run homer by Kathryn Geouge (Canton, NC/Pisgah HS) with two outs in the fifth to take command.  That would plenty of support for Meghan Cobb (Richmond, VA/Lloyd Bird HS), who earned her second win in as many outings.  She allowed the single run on five hits with five strikeouts.
 
Coker used a pair of errors to take a 2-0 lead in inning two of the nightcap.  Ashton Williamson (Pelion, SC) and Haleigh Rogers (Ward, SC) plated the runs with one-out singles.  Diemer singled home a run in the third before Catawba got on the board in its third on a RBI-single by Jessie Whitesides (Yadkinville, NC/Homeschooled) and a double by White to cut the lead to 3-2.
 
Kimberly Atkinson (McBee, SC) and VanBuskirk traded home runs to make the score 4-3 after six and Jessica Blackwell (Hartsville, SC) gave the Cobras an insurance run in the seventh on a one-out single.  Catawba put the tying run in scoring position, but Shelly Catlett (Orangeburg, SC) retired three batters in relief to gain the save.