William Woods, the No. 3 seed, rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the fifth inning. WWU’s Tara Fiene, a Hickman grad who stole 21 bases in the regular season, singled and tried to steal second. Cougar catcher Amy Seipp overthrew second base and the ball sailed to the wall, allowing Fiene to score from first, bringing the Owls within one.

"The tide kind of changed," said Owl coach Tracy Gastineau of the errant throw in the fifth. "And you can kind of feel it and see it change."

The Cougars (30-15), who have had their fair share of one-run games, were unable to hold on to the slim lead after the momentum shifted against WWU (31-19)

In the top of the sixth, what appeared to be a routine grounder by Jessica Mackey to short center, took an unexpected bounce. Cougar centerfielder Krista Viefhaus ran toward the rolling ball only to see it hit a divot and bounce well over her head and into left center, allowing Amy Books to score from second with the tying run.

Starting Cougar pitcher Renea Vest (16-8), who made her fifth start in six games since ace Jayne Miller threw out her back on April 17, was relieved by Miller after the play.

With Mackey in scoring position at second, Miller allowed a Jamie Knipp double that scored the game-winning run.

"They got back in the game on that fluke," Cougar coach Wendy Spratt said. "That ball hit that little lip and went over Krista’s head. That’s just not something that happens every game and it put them back into the game mentally. I thought that was the change in the game and it hurt us. We weren’t able to shut ’em down and keep ourselves going offensively."

Seipp went 3 for 3 with two RBI doubles, a triple and a walk. Her one-out triple in the sixth provided the Cougars with a golden opportunity to tie, but Katie Dooley lined to first and Kristina Jones struck out to end the rally.

"It’s rough to be on base and be stuck," said Seipp, who was left on base three times during the game. The Cougars stranded 11 runners.

"But that’s just the way it goes, sometimes you string hits together and sometimes you don’t."

Columbia College, with the loss, must win two consecutive games to reach the finals in the double-elimination tournament and need four straight wins to take the championship.

Their first opponent will be Missouri Baptist today at 10:45 a.m.