EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. -- The Washburn Lady Blues softball team split a pair of games in the first day of the Cougar Classic hosted by SIU-Edwardsville. The Lady Blues (4-11) topped Missouri-St. Louis 1-0 before falling to the host school and defending national champions 8-5. Washburn will take on Southern Indiana on Sunday before starting pool play.

Game 1 - Washburn 1, Missouri-St. Louis 0 | Season Stats
Washburn's Tish Williams broke a scoreless tie in the top of the seventh inning with a solo home run to left for the only run of the game. The hit was also the only hit for the Lady Blues in the opener as Washburn had its first 18 batters retired. Washburn's Kelly Swygert scattered four Triton hits while striking out three.

Game 2 - SIU-Edwardsville 8, Washburn 5
The Lady Blues fell 8-5 to the 2007 NCAA softball champions. The Cougars jumped out to a 7-1 lead after four innings, but Washburn rallied to score three in the fifth capped by Williams' second home run of the day - a three run shot cutting the lead to 7-4. The Cougars added a single run in the sixth inning. Washburn added one more in the bottom of the seventh on a double to center by Dani White scoring Whitney Tapp. Kayla Long took the loss in the circle.