Snead State had No. 2 ranked Yavapai (AZ) on upset alert late Tuesday night, but never found the big hit they needed, falling by a 2-0 final in the opening game of the Junior College Softball World Series in Yuma, Arizona.
The two teams combined for just five hits in the game, as Snead's Madison Wright and Emily Darwin dueled. But a two-run home run in the third inning proved to be the difference for Yavapai, who advances in the winner's bracket, while Snead drops into an elimination game scheduled for 2 p.m. local time in Alabama against No. 10 seed Crowder.
Scoreless through two and a half innings, with each team posting just one base runner to that point, Yavapai looked set for a big inning the bottom of the third, while Snead nearly escaped the jam thanks to their defense.
Yavapai put the first two runners of the inning on, but then Wright and the Parson defense turned a double play, putting them an out away from escaping the inning. But the next hitter, Kayla Rodgers, belted a two-run home for the game's only runs.
From there, the Parsons managed saw only two more hitters reach base, a walk from Abigail Hornbuckle in the fourth, then a two-out single from Julia Hurley in the top of the fifth. MaKenna Jones had the other Snead State hit, a single in the second.
After Hurley's single, Yavapa turned to closer Emily Dix for the sixth and seventh innings, who earned the save by retiring all six Parson's she faced, fanning five of them.
Wright took the hard luck loss for Snead, going the distance in the game, giving up three hits, walking two, and striking out six Yavapai batters.
Emily Darwin earned the win for Yavapai, giving up two hits, one walk, and striking out five over her five innings of work.
Other notable scores from Tuesday included No. 3 seed Wallace State, who entered the tournament at 54-2 on the year, getting upset by No. 14 Paris (TX) in a 7-5 final. Wallace State had jumped out to a 3-0 lead thanks to a three-run fourth, but Paris answered with six runs in the top of the fifth inning to take the lead for good.
Wallace State will play Butler (KS) in the consolation bracket, also set for today at 2 p.m. CST.
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