CLERMONT, Fla. – After splitting the first of four doubleheaders to open their spring break trip, University of Sioux Falls Softball won three of their next four games. The Cougars defeated California (Pa.) 6-1 on Saturday morning then followed it with a 7-5 victory over Ashland (Ohio) in the afternoon. Nearly knocking off No. 18 Caldwell, USF suffered a hard-fought 3-2 defeat on Sunday morning before rebounding with an 8-0 victory over Franklin Pierce. The Cougars (11-6) close their trip with games against Truman State and Millersville on Tuesday.
 
Sioux Falls 6, California (Pa.) 1
Four different Cougars recorded two hits each and Kerrigan Hoshaw earned a complete game victory as USF defeated California, 6-1. Hoshaw allowed just five hits in seven innings of work and struck out four CU hitters. Hoshaw added two hits at the plate and was joined by Jasmine Ragusi, Emily Hove and Kenna Heath as Cougars with multi-hit performances.
 
After two scoreless innings by the Cougars, California took a lead with three hits and their lone run of the game. Hoshaw avoided any extra damage by stranding three runners and after a scoreless third inning by the Cougars, Hoshaw tossed a shutout frame with the Vulcans leaving two more runners on.
 
Sioux Falls tied the game with a run in the top of the fourth off a Hove RBI single and Hoshaw followed with a 1-2-3 inning. With six hits in the top of the sixth, USF broke the game open, capitalizing on a critical error to score five runs.
 
Sydney Nieveen doubled to start and score on the next at-bat, a double from Hoshaw. Ragusi provided the third straight hit with a single to force a CU pitching change. Ashley Meyer scored Hoshaw on an error then Heath added a hit to load the bases and Britni Broussard drove in a run with a groundout. Lindsey Mossman kept the Cougars rolling with an RBI single and Emma Schifferle provided the final hit of the inning, scoring one more run.
 
With a 6-1 lead, Hoshaw closed out the game, escaping the sixth and seventh innings with the bases loaded in each.
 
Sioux Falls 7, Ashland 5
With four runs in the first three innings, USF built a lead they would hold onto, avoiding Ashland's late push to earn a 7-5 victory. Courtney Mathews threw 5.1 innings for the victory and Breanna Black recorded her third save of the year. Sydney Nieveen hit her second homerun of the season and scored three runs while Kenna Heath tallied three hits and drove in three more.
 
After Ashland scored one run in the top of the first, USF responded with three hits and took a 2-1 lead. Jasmine Ragusi drove in Emma Schifferle and Nieveen scored on Heath's two-out single. Ashland responded with another run in the second, but USF would score twice in the bottom of the third.
 
Nieveen hit a one-out homerun to tie the game and Heath tallied her second RBI with a single to score pinch-runner Miranda White. Mathews tossed scoreless fourth and fifth innings, setting up the Cougarrs to expand on their lead.
 
USF added three runs on four hits in the bottom of the fifth inning. Ragusi drove in the first run with a single to centerfield and Heath tacked on one more with a single to right. Black, who would enter to pitch the following inning, singled to score the third run for a 7-2 lead.
 
Ashland got two runs back with a one-out homerun in the top of the sixth inning, finishing Mathews's time in the circle. Black kept AU off the board to finish the sixth inning and allowed just one unearned run in the seventh to preserve USF's 7-5 victory.
 
No. 18 Caldwell 3, Sioux Falls 2
Two unearned runs plagued USF's upset bid of No. 18 Caldwell as the Cougars suffered a 3-2 loss on Sunday morning. Britni Broussard homered for one of her team-high two hits and Lindsey Mossman drove in one more for the Cougars. Hoshaw threw 6.2 innings with seven strikeouts, but was handed her first loss of the season.
 
A pitcher's duel kept both teams off the board through the first four innings and Kenna Heath broke up Caldwell's no-hit bid with a single in the top of the fifth inning. A pair of extra-base hits led to Caldwell's first run, but Broussard answered in the top of the sixth with a leadoff homerun down the right field line.
 
The Cougars took their first lead of the game in the seventh inning, manufacturing a run off two hits. Emily Hove started the process with a one-out single up the middle. A Heath walk moved Hove into scoring position and Broussard loaded the bases on an infield single. Mossman drove in the go-ahead run after getting hit by a pitch to put USF up 2-1.
 
Caldwell got their first two runners on by walk and hit by pitch and an error loaded the bases. A sacrifice bunt scored advanced the runners and a two-out single to centerfield scored the two unearned runs that proved to be the difference in the game.
 
 
Sioux Falls 8, Franklin Pierce 0 (6 inn.)
Sioux Falls totaled 14 hits with four Cougars recording two or more as USF rolled to an 8-0 victory over Franklin Pierce in six innings. Kenna Heath was 2-2 at the plate, driving in two runs and scoring two more while Lindsey Mossman, Emily Hove and Britni Broussard added two hits each. Courtney Mathews recorded her third win of the season with a one-hit, six-strikeout performance.
 
USF wasted no time building a lead, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first. Mossman and Emma Schifferle led off with singles to start the inning and Ragusi scored the first on a groundout two batters later. Heath drove in the second with a single to right centerfield.
 
Mathews was perfect in the first three innings, retiring all nine batters. USF added runs in the second and third innings with Broussard and Hove providing the RBI for a 4-0 lead through three innings.
 
After 10 consecutive outs, Mathews surrendered her only hit of the game in the fourth inning then closed the game with eight consecutive outs.
 
Sioux Falls scored two runs in the fifth inning with a Heath double and Hove single pushing the runs across the board. Leading by six entering the bottom of the sixth, Francesca Mickelson hit her first career homerun and Miranda White singled to score the game-clinching run.