ST. GEORGE, Utah - The College of Southern Idaho Softball team went from being on the bring of elimination Thursday to living to see another day when it battled back from a 6-4 deficit in the 7th inning to beating Wallace State 11-6.
The Golden Eagles lost to Butler CC 7-6 on a walk-off hit earlier Thursday. Butler is the two-time NJCAA National Champions.
The loss dropped CSI to the loser's bracket and into a must-win matchup against Wallace State.
CSI trailed 5-1 heading into the sixth inning when the Golden Eagles found some much needed mojo. Melanie Groenewegen hit a bases-clearing triple with two outs to pull the Golden Eagles within 5-4.
But Wallace State answered with a run in the bottom of the sixth, sending the Golden Eagles to the plate with their last chance to score.
CSI opened the top half with a Mikelle Magalogo walk and a Tristin Evans single before a pop out gave the Golden Eagles their first out. That's when Siearrah Anderson hit a 3-run home to put CSI up 7-6. The Golden Eagles started over with singles from Hannah Peterson, Hailey Hicks and Nicole Renner. Peterson scored on the Renner single to make it 8-6. Then Groenewegen added three more RBI to her line with a 3-run home run, giving CSI its final margin.
Kamryn Grover, who homered at the plate earlier in the game, earned the win in the circle. The freshman went all seven innings, giving up five earned runs on 12 hits with five strikeouts.
Against Butler, The Golden Eagles struggled offensively but still managed to score runs thanks in part to a three-run home run by Mikelle Magalogo. Nicole Renner was 1-for-4 with two RBI and Hannah Peterson finished the game 2-for-4. Those were all key hits as the Golden Eagles had 14 strikeouts in the contest. Stefani Zimmerman threw 5.2 innings in the no decision, giving up five earned runs on nine hits with five strikeouts.
CSI will face Seminole State at noon on Friday.