La Plata, MD - A crucial Region 20 showdown went sour for the Howard Community College Dragons, as they lost both games in a doubleheader to the College of Southern Maryland Hawks.

The Hawks capitalized on Dragon errors to shutout Howard in game one, the first shutout loss of the season. A nine-run third inning in game two iced the contest for the Hawks in game two, despite Howard's best efforts to get back into the game. The losses drop the Dragons to 9-11 on the season and 5-5 in conference play.

Game One: Hawks 8, Dragons 0
Game one marked the first shutout loss of the season for the Dragons, as they fell victim to excellent pitching from Southern Maryland's Miranda Twigg. Howard's Marissa Webb (Hanover, MD/Mount de Sales Academy) kept the Dragons in the contests through the first three innings, allowing only two runs to score off a Cassie Wolfe RBI double in the first, and a Carrie Hayden score on an error in the third. Webb and Gianna Peluso (Ellicott City, MD/Marriotts Ridge) were the only Dragons to get on base through the first three innings as Howard struggled against the Hawks infield play.

In the top of the fourth, Howard managed to make a dent thanks to a Webb single and a walk for Sophia Steele (Eldersburg, MD/Liberty), but a double play on the next at-bat ended their scoring opportunity. In the bottom of the inning, the Hawks erupted with four runs to make it a 6-0 game in the blink of an eye. Howard got back-to-back singles in the top of the fifth to once again pressure the Hawks, but Katherine Wright (Dayton, MD/Mount de Sales Academy) was caught out at third on the next at-bat to end the threat once again.

Another Hawk run came home in the bottom of the fifth to make it 7-0 Southern Maryland. In the top of the sixth, the Dragons got closer than they had all game to scoring when they loaded the bases. Webb smacked her third single of the day to start the rally, followed by a Sophia Steele (Eldersburg, MD/Liberty) fielder's choice and a Taylor Pence (Mt. Airy, MD/Glenelg) single. With Jensyn Koonce (Chesapeake, VA/Greatbridge) walking on her next at-bat, the Dragons found themselves with the bases loaded, but Madison Falby (Laurel, MD/Reservoir) popped out to third base to end the inning. In the bottom of the sixth, Southern Maryland loaded the bases and closed out the game with an RBI single from Cassie Wolfe.

Game Two: Hawks 12, Dragons 4
Howard sent Sophia Steele (Eldersburg, MD/Liberty) to the mound in game two, and the sophomore quickly went to work shutting down CSM's red-hot bats. Howard's offense opened up the scoring in the bottom of the first with a Marissa Webb (Hanover, MD/Mount de Sales Academy) RBI double, then extended it in the second when Taylor Pence (Mt. Airy, MD/Glenelg) scored on a wild pitch. The lead blossomed to 3-0 in the top of the third when Gianna Peluso (Ellicott City, MD/Marriotts Ridge) scored on Katherine Wright's (Dayton, MD/Mount de Sales Academy) ground-out.

The bottom of the third proved to be the turning point, as Southern Maryland scored nine unanswered runs. The Hawks capitalized on errors by the Dragons to load the bases, then chipped away at the Dragons lead run by run. Howard made a pitching change, sending Jensyn Koonce (Chesapeake, VA/Greatbridge) to the mound for her first action of the season. Koonce was able to get Howard out of the inning, then shut down CSM's bats in the fourth. Howard was unable to score in both the fourth and the fifth thanks to tough infield play from the Hawks.

Carrie Hayden's center field triple added another run for the Hawks in the bottom of the fifth to make it 10-3, but a catching change allowed Madison Falby (Laurel, MD/Reservoir) to prevent two additional runs from scoring thanks to excellent plate work. In the top of the sixth, Howard got two aboard thanks to singles from Madison Hamolia (Odenton, MD/Arundel) and Sophia Steele (Eldersburg, MD/Liberty), then loaded the bases on a Taylor Pence (Mt. Airy, MD/Glenelg) single. Jensyn Koonce (Chesapeake, VA/Greatbridge) then hit a sac-fly to shallow left to bring home Hamolia and get one run back for the Dragons. Unfortunately, Kaylee Brogan (Woodbine, MD/Glenelg) popped out to end the Dragons' scoring chances.

Another fielding error allowed Southern Maryland the load the bases in the bottom of the sixth, and two final runs scored by the Hawks ended the Dragons day with a 12-4 run-rule loss.

Up Next: Howard will head north to New York for spring break, with their first of three scheduled doubleheaders next week. Up first is a rematch with Monroe-Bronx on Tuesday, March 31 at 3:00 PM.