Southern Idaho team deprives Lady Badgers of four victories
Matt Harris
Staff writer
3-16-2017
TWIN FALLS, ID—The Lady Badgers came home from their series against Southern Idaho last weekend learning that they have plenty of work to do.
Snow College’s softball team dropped all four contests to the Lady Eagles, 10-7, 10-9, 5-4, and 5-3, to bring their record to 6-9-1 so far this season. Snow’s losses came in spite of solid performances from sophomores Alyssa Arslanian and Mackenzie Simons at the plate.
Day one was a scoring frenzy between the two games. Snow and Southern Idaho combined to score 36 runs on the day. Arslanian started the game off well with a two-score home run at the top of the first to take a lead, but Southern Idaho returned fire with a five-run inning to start. The Lady Badgers took a lead at the top of the third with four runs.
At the top of the fourth, Simons struck softball gold, blasting one over the fence for a grand slam, and Snow took a 6-5 lead before Southern Idaho reclaimed it, 7-6, in the ensuing half-inning. Two innings later, Snow tied it up, 7-7, off a ground ball RBI by freshman Sarah Sandberg, but three Southern Idaho runs in the bottom of the sixth let the Lady Eagles run away with the game.
In the next game, Arslanian and Simons stayed hot at the plate, homering in the top of the first to contribute to a 3-0 lead. Later, after the Lady Eagles took the lead, freshman Dakota Gee cracked off another grand slam at the top of the seventh to give the Lady Badgers a late lead, 9-5. Southern Idaho, once again took the cue to storm back and scored five runs at the bottom of the final inning for the win. The game-sealer came off a triple that scored the Eagles’ final run.
The following day saw less offense at the plate, but the result remained the same. Snow dropped both games in close contests. Arslanian continued to score in both games and finished the entire series with eight RBI. Arslanian is eighth in the country in slugging percentage at 1.036.
Tomorrow and Saturday, the Lady Badgers will host rival Salt Lake, ranked No. 5 in the nation, in two doubleheaders. Game time is set for 1 p.m. tomorrow and noon on Saturday.
