HENDERSON, Nev. - The College of Southern Idaho faced two elimination games Wednesday and came through with two wins, beating Snow College 11-2 and Southern Nevada 5-0.
Golden Eagle pitcher Gracie Walters proved to be the x factor in both wins. The freshman threw all five innings against Snow, giving up two earned runs on five hits with six strikeouts and then started the second game against Southern Nevada, pitching a scoreless four innings and giving up just four hits with three strikeouts.
She did it with her bat as well, going 2-for-5 with two RBI.
Siera Horton was also a big factor in the circle, throwing the final three innings against Southern Nevada, giving up no runs on just two hits with two strikeouts.
In game one, Maizie Clark hit a walk-off two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth to end the game in a run rule. Cortney Rheese was 1-for-2 with a double and two RBI and Caitlin Turner was 1-for-3 with a double. Sidney Eyre, Payton Hammond and Maya Williams were each 1-for-2 and Brynne Tolley was 2-for-3.
In game two, the Golden Eagles got a solo home run from Turner and the rest of the CSI hits were singles. Tuner was 2-for-4, Sophia Stoddard was 1-for-1 with two walks, and Clark was 2-for 3.
With both wins, CSI advance to the Region 18 Championship Thursday at 11 a.m. PST against top-ranked Salt Lake CC. The Golden Eagles would need to beat the Bruins twice to advance to the NJCAA National Tournament.