Columbus beats Pekin

COLUMBUS JUNCTION ? The Pekin softball team watched three unearned runs cross the plate and saw a win slip away in conference play Tuesday.

The Panthers, after taking a one-run lead in the top of the sixth inning, surrendered the three runs in the bottom of the inning for a 6-4 loss to Columbus.

?We?ve got to play more fundamentally sound softball,? said Pekin head coach Bryan Marlay. ?The game is simple. Throw strikes, play defense, get a few key hits and you?ll win some ball games, and right now we?re struggling.?

The Panthers fell to 3-3 overall and 2-2 in the Southeast Iowa Superconference north division following the loss.

Pekin had five hits Tuesday, with three of them coming off Leslie Stone?s bat. Stone went 3 for 4 with a double and two RBI, while Brandy Millikin and Paige Jensen had the other two base knocks.

Stone, starting the sixth game in six opportunities this season, took the loss. The junior allowed six runs, though only three were earned, in six innings. She also fanned nine Wildcat batters.

The Panthers close out week two of the softball season with six more games in three days. They host Lone Tree on Thursday before traveling to Davis County on Friday and Van Buren Saturday.

Pekin @ Columbus

PEKIN ? 0 1 0 2 0 1 ? 16 8 2

COLUMBUS ? 0 0 2 1 0 3 ? 0 0 8

PEKIN ? Stone 3-4, 2B, 2RBI; Millikin 1-4, R; Jensen 1-4, R; Adam R; Cooley R; Earnest R

Pitching ? Stone (L, 3-3), 6 INN, 4H, 6R, 3ER, 9K, 4BB