The Snow College softball team was swept by No. 16 Salt Lake Community College over the weekend in Ephraim.
 
The Badgers entered the weekend coming off a series split against the College of Southern Idaho Monday and Tuesday in Twin Falls.  The games against the No. 19 Golden Eagles were make-up games for the four-game series that was postponed earlier in the season. After losing both games in Monday's doubleheader, the Badgers turned around and swept the two games Tuesday, winning 13-3 and 14-12.
 
The Bruins entered Friday's games atop the Scenic West Athletic Conference Standings with a 20-7 overall record and a 14-2 mark within SWAC play.  SLCC has won five games in a row including a sweep over the College of Southern Idaho in Henderson, Nevada.  
 
Snow College was shut out for just the third time all season in game one of the series.  The Badgers managed just five hits against Ephraim native and Manti High School Alum Tiffany Hermansen.  Hermansen pitched a complete game and struck out four while shutting out the Badger's offense.
 
Snow College's defense committed six errors in the field which led to six unearned runs.  Kaci Smith, who started inside the circle for the Badgers, didn't allow an earned run until the seventh inning. The Badgers would drop game one 8-0.
 
The second game of Friday's doubleheader was an extra-inning thriller.  Snow College opened up a 3-0 lead through the first two innings before SLCC scored four runs in the third.  The Badgers scored a run in the bottom of the inning on an August Cowan double to left center.
 
Both the Badgers and the Bruins traded blows in the fourth inning scoring six runs apiece to bring the score to 10-10.  Hadlee Walker blasted a three-run homer to bring the Badgers level again.  
 
SLCC's offense carried the momentum from the previous inning and scored six runs over the next two innings. Snow College entered the bottom of the sixth trailing 16-10. Andrea Sweat singled with the bases loaded to score a run, followed by a walk by Kiley Mitchell to score another run.
 
A pair of fielder's choices drove home two more when McCall Maxfield delivered the tying runs on a two-run homer to left field.  The seventh inning would go down scoreless, and the game entered extra innings, the first such game of the season for the Badgers.
 
After a scoreless eighth inning, the Bruins used a triple, an infield single, a home run, and a sacrifice fly to score six runs in the top of the ninth inning.  Snow College would respond with two in the bottom of the inning but could not overcome the deficit and would suffer a 22-18 defeat.
 
The bats for the Bruins continued their momentum into the first game Saturday scoring five runs in the first three innings before exploding for 11 runs in the fourth to take a 16-2 lead.  Snow College scored a pair of runs in the first and fourth innings before losing 18-4 in five innings via mercy rule.
 
The Bruins used another big inning in the series' final game as they won 11-2.  SLCC scored six runs in the third inning to take an 8-1 lead. They would add three more runs in the fourth before holding the Badgers quiet over the final two frames to earn the win.  
 
Maxfield paced the Badgers offensively as she went 7-14 over the weekend hitting two homers, driving in five RBIs, and scoring seven runs.  Cowan reached base safely eight times in 13 at bats totaling six hits, and two walks while driving in four RBIs.
 
Snow College (16-11/8-8) will continue its eight-game home stand as it welcomes CSI to town for a four-game series.  The Badgers will look to win three of four from the Golden Eagles over the weekend to win the season series against the flaxen birds.
 
Friday's doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. with Saturday's doubleheader slated for 12:00 and 2:00 p.m. at the Snow College Softball Complex in Ephraim.  For video streaming and live stat information, visit snowbadgers.com.