Snow College Athletics

The Snow College softball team secured its spot in the Region 18 Tournament after collecting three victories against Utah State University Eastern Thursday and Friday in Ephraim.
 
The Badgers entered the critical weekend series having lost eight straight against No. 25 College of Southern Idaho and No. 19 Salt Lake Community College. They needed at least three victories against the Eagles to leapfrog them in the standings and finish as the three seed.
 
Snow College dropped a back and forth first game of the series. After USUE pushed across a lone tally in the first inning, they took a 3-0 lead with a pair of runs in the third. The Badgers responded as Grace Thomas blasted a double into the right-field corner to score Chloe Tycksen and Brooke Fisher. Rian Howland follow with a single to score Thomas and the score was tied at three entering the fourth.
 
Thomas drove in another run in the fourth inning on a groundout to give the Badgers a 4-3 lead. USUE tied the game with a single in the sixth. They took the lead for good on an opposite-field homer that bounced off the top of the wall to hand the Badgers the 5-4 loss.
 
The Badgers scored a run in the opening frame of game two as Nev Carrasquel was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to give Snow College of 1-0 lead. The Badgers scored three times in the fourth inning first on a double steal by Tycksen and Kaylee McAfee.
 
Thomas executed a perfect safety squeeze play before a double from Taimane Laolagi-Aloy score two more runs and the Badgers held a 4-0 lead.
 
USUE scratched a run in the sixth inning and were threatening in the seventh. Two runs did score, but Avery Thorkelson slammed the door, and Snow College earned the 4-3 victory.
 
The offense exploded in game three of the series as the Badgers scored in every frame of the game. Laolagi-Aloy drove home Fisher on a ringing double to center field. Gigi Hall followed a few batters later with a deep fly ball to left field that was dropped to bring home two more tallies.
 
Snow College put of five runs in the second inning to take a commanding 8-0 lead. A single from Fisher preceded back-to-back doubles from Thomas and Laolagi-Aloy to score three runs. Zayda Olvera singled to drive home Laolagi-Aloy before a fielding error pushed Howland across the plate.
 
It was Thomas and Laolagi-Aloy who came through again for the Badgers as a single from Thomas scored Fisher in the third, and a loaded-bases double from Laolagi-Aloy scored three more in the fourth to extend the lead to 12-0. USUE managed a lone run in the fifth to avoid the shutout, but the Badgers earned the win, 12-1.
 
Game four of the series and the final game of the regular season served as the decisive game in the series. With both teams tied at 9-22 in the standings, game four would serve as the tiebreaker as to which team would enter the Region 18 Tournament as the three and the four seeds.
 
Additionally, game four would determine which team, SLCC or CSI, would host the tournament. With SLCC and CSI going 4-4 against each other in the regular season, the tie breaker to host came down to their records against the three seed in the tournament.
 
During the season, SLCC went 8-0 against Snow College and 7-1 against USUE. Alternatively, CSI went 7-1 against the Badgers and 8-0 against the Eagles. If Snow won game four and was the three seed, SLCC would own the tiebreaker and would host. If USUE won game four CSI would own the tie breaker and would host the Region Tournament.
 
USUE struck first in the top of the first inning as a single and a sacrifice fly scored two runs. Fisher led off the bottom of the inning with her conference-leading 18^th home run of the season to cut the deficit in half.
 
After allowing the two runs in the first inning, Thorkelson settled in and pitched a gem over the remaining innings. She allowed just two hits over the final six innings and did not allow another run to score.
 
The Badgers took the lead in the second as a two-run single from Carrasquel preceded a double from Fisher, which scored one more. A throwing error from the USUE catcher scored another run before the Badgers scored their final tally on a bases-loaded walk from Carrasquel in the fifth.
 
Carrasquel also made her presence known in the top of the sixth inning with a pulchritudinous diving catch in left field to end the inning for the Eagles. It was just one of multiple diving catches Carrasquel made during the series. Snow College went on to win 6-2 to claim the three seed in the tournament.
 
Fisher led the way for the Badgers offensively as she went 9-13 from the plate with four doubles, a triple, a homer, three RBIs, and three walks. She came inches from hitting for the cycle in game three of the series.
 
Thomas and Laolagi-Aloy went a combined 9-26 with six doubles and 12 runs driven in. Thorklson was nearly lights out inside the circle as she appeared in three games during the series. She collected two complete-game victories will allowing just three earned runs on eight hits across 15.0 innings pitches.
 
Snow College will now head north to take on CSI in the first round of the Region 18 Tournament Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. at the Norma Carr Softball complex in Taylorsville. For video streaming and live stat information, visit snowbadgers.com.