GAME NOTES: The Snow College softball team will conclude the regular season in a four-game series against No. 25 Salt Lake Community College beginning Friday in Taylorsville. The Badgers need just one victory against the Bruins to lock up the three seed in the Region 18 Tournament.
 
The Badgers are coming off a series against No. 24 College of Southern Idaho during which they were swept for the first time this season. Snow College went just 1-7 against the Golden Eagles this season.
 
Ayden Fitch had a strong offensive performance as she went 5-10 (.500/.615/1.500) from the plate with three home runs and seven RBIs. Over her last 12 games, Fitch has slashed .406/.578/1.188 from the plate while hitting eight home runs, driving in 18 RBIs, drawing 10 walks, and scoring 13 runs while striking out just twice.
 
Hailey Mangum will enter play Friday riding a 14-game on-base streak. Mangum has reached base at least once in 38 of 43 games played this season, including a 23-game streak earlier this year. She leads the team in batting average (.393) and on-base percentage (.458).
 
The Bruins are 29-8 overall and 16-8 within Scenic West Athletic Conference play this season. They are coming off a series during which they swept Utah State University Eastern while scoring a combined 59 runs over the four-game series.
 
The Badgers won one of three games when they faced SLCC in Ephraim earlier this season. They are 6-50 overall against the Bruins in Taylorsville and have won just two of their previous eight meetings when traveling north on I-15.
 
RECORD WATCH: Two Badgers are closing in on the all-time home run record. Kamryn Allen and Ayden Fitch are both within striking distance of making Snow College history. Allen needs just one home run to tie the all-time home run record, while Fitch, who has hit eight homers in her last 12 games, needs just two big flies to tie the record. Alyssa Arslanian set the mark as she hit 27 homers during the 2016 and 2017 seasons.
 
Allen is also just two runs batted in away from setting the record for career RBIs. Arslanian also set the record for career RBIs between the 2016-17 seasons.
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Snow College softball team suffered a four-game sweep against No. 24 College of Southern Idaho last weekend in Twin Falls. This is the first time the Badgers have been swept in a series all season.
 
The Badgers entered the weekend following four victories against North Idaho College during their final home stand of the season. Snow College enters the final weekend of its regular season needing just one win to lock up the three seed in the Region 18 Tournament.
 
Game one of the series started with a home run from Ayden Fitch to give the Badgers a 1-0 lead. The Golden Eagles responded with a solo shot in the third to tie the game.
 
Snow College scored five runs in the fourth to take the lead right back. Avery Thorkelson laced a bases-loaded single to right to score a pair of runs. Hailey Mangum and Brooke Fisher both followed with doubles to increase the lead to 6-1.
 
CSI scored four runs over the next two innings, and Snow College entered the bottom of the seventh with a 6-5 lead. The Golden Eagles proceeded to hit a two-out, walk-off home run to earn the 7-6 victory.
 
The Badgers took a two-run lead in the second game of the series after a Kamryn Allen solo homer and a bases-loaded hit by pitch from Fitch. The lead would be short-lived as the offense went quiet over the final four innings, as CSI scored six unanswered runs to win 6-2.
 
Snow College managed just one run in game three of the series – a leadoff blast from Mangum to take a 1-0 lead. The Golden Eagles were able to end the game in five innings as they scored four in the second, one in the third, and seven runs in the fourth inning to win 12-1.
 
It was CSI who got out to the early lead in game four of the series with three runs in the first inning. A solo homer in the second gave the Golden Eagles a 4-0 lead.
 
The Badgers got on the board in the third inning with a three-run homer that cleared the center-field wall from Fitch to trim the deficit to 4-3. CSI responded with eight runs over the next two frames to regain a 12-3 advantage.
 
It was Fitch who struck again in the fifth inning with a homer, this time a two-run blast, to dead center to bring the score to 12-5. Reata O'Neal plated another run in the fifth on a fielder's choice.
 
The Golden Eagles ended things in the sixth inning as they drove in two runs to win the game 14-6 via mercy rule.
 
Fitch led the Badgers offensively as she went 5-10 (.500/.615/1.500) and hit three home runs and drove in seven runs from the plate. Mangum reached base seven times in 15 plate appearances while hitting a homer, driving in three runs, and scoring three times.
 
UP NEXT: The Badgers will have an off week to prepare for the first round of the Region 18 Tournament. Likely, the Badgers will take on SLCC in the first round of the tournament, which will begin Tuesday, May 6. For start times, video streaming, and live stat information, visit snowbadgers.com.