GAME NOTES: The Snow College softball team will play its penultimate home series of the year and play host to No. 16 Salt Lake Community College Friday and Saturday in Ephraim. Friday's doubleheader will start at 1:00 p.m. with Saturday's twin bill slated to begin at 12:00 p.m.
 
The Badgers are coming off a four-game series against the College of Southern Idaho where they earned one victory. Three of the four games were decided by just one run while two games went into extra innings. The Badgers enter play against the Bruins with a 6-6 conference record.
 
Ayden Fitch led the Badgers offensively against the Golden Eagles as she went 8-16 (.500/.500/1.000) from the plate with two home runs and drove in five RBIs. She leads the team this season with five home runs.
 
Brooke Fisher also hit two home runs against CSI as she slashed .438/.438/.813 from the plate. Over her last six games, Fisher has gone 10-22 (.455/.478/1.000) while hitting four homers, driving in nine RBIs, and scoring six runs.
 
Two of the four games against CSI went into extra innings. They were the first two extra inning games of the season for the Badgers. Snow College is just 1-4 in extra inning games since the start of the 2023 season when Mikelle Magalogo took over.
 
The Badgers and the Bruins are currently tied with each other for second place within the Scenic West Athletic Conference standings. The Bruins won the regular season championship and earned the rights to host the Region 18 Tournament last year.
 
The Bruins own a 17-4 overall record and a 4-4 in conference play. SLCC went 13-0 within non-conference play to start the year but have lost four of their last eight games.
 
The Badgers are 10-108 against the Bruins since 2010. They enter the four game series having lost 11 straight games and 21 of their last 22. Snow College hasn't beaten SLCC in Ephraim since a 6-5 win March 22, 2019.
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Snow College softball team won one game against the College of Southern Idaho Tuesday and Wednesday in Ephraim.
 
The Badgers entered the weekend having split a four-game series against North Idaho College last weekend. The four-game series with the Golden Eagles was moved up in the week due to impending inclement weather this weekend.
 
Game one of the series was an instant classic that saw the game go 10 innings. The Badgers got out to an early lead, scoring a run in the first inning. Brooke Fisher slapped a single through the left side to plate Hailey Mangum, and the Badgers took a 1-0 lead.
 
Fitch put Snow College up 3-0 in the bottom of the third with a two-run homer. The Golden Eagles responded with a pair of home runs in the top of the fourth inning to tie the game at 3. From there, the game went scoreless through the next five complete innings.
 
The Badgers had a chance to win it in the bottom of the ninth. Avery Thorkelson and Mangum both singled with two outs to put runners at first and third. Reata O'Neal then hit a sharp line drive into right field that was poised to drive home the winning run. CSI right fielder Ava Howell sprinted in and to her right and made a sensational, fully extended diving catch to rob O'Neal of a walk-off single.
 
The momentum carried into the Golden Eagle dugout and they scored five runs in the top of the 10^th. The Badgers would not go down without a fight.  An Ayden Fitch double preceded home runs from Kamryn Allen and Fisher, which brought the Badgers back within one. They were unable to complete the comeback and suffered the 8-7 loss.
 
Game two of the series saw CSI score two runs in the top of the second. Taimane Laolagi-Aloy plated Allen on a sacrifice fly to cut the deficit in half. The Golden Eagles got that run back with a lone tally in the top of the fifth inning.
 
Snow College tied the game in the sixth inning as Allen drove home a run on a safety squeeze play. The Badgers then executed a double steal, and Gracie Brooks scored the tying run. CSI broke the tie in the seventh on a sacrifice fly and would slam the door in the bottom of the inning to win, 4-3.
 
The Badgers would find themselves on the right side of a one-run game in game three of the series. After CSI scored three runs in the top of the third, Snow College tied the game with a trio of runs in the fourth.
 
Singles from Zayda Olvera and Madison Salisbury each scored a run before Mangum plated Moki Maughan on a fielder's choice to even the score at three. Both teams scored a run in the fifth. The Badgers' run came on a single from Allen to score Brooks.
 
For the second time in the series, the game went into extra innings after both teams went scoreless in the final two frames. With one out in the bottom of the eighth, Mangum ripped a double to right center. Two batters later, Fitch drove home Mangum on a single to left field to give the Badgers a walk-off victory, 5-4.
 
Following the win, CSI came out firing in the final game of the series, scoring 12 runs through the first four innings. The Badgers mustered three runs in the third inning on homers from Fisher and Fitch but suffered the 12-3 loss.
 
Fitch led the Badgers offensively as she went 8-16 (.500/.500/1.000) with two home runs, two doubles, and five RBIs. Fisher also hit two home runs while going 7-16 (.438/.438/.813) from the plate and driving in four runs.
 
UP NEXT: After a week off, the Badgers will begin the second half of their conference schedule against Utah State University Eastern in Price. Snow College will play three of their last four series on the road to conclude the year. The Badgers took three of four from the Eagles when the two teams met Feb. 28. The Eagles are 6-11 overall and 2-6 within conference play to begin the season. For video streaming and live stat information, visit snowbadgers.com.