OXFORD, AL – 10th-seeded Walters State has lived to fight another day at the NJCAA DI Softball World Series.
Taking on ninth-seeded Southern Idaho in the Lady Senators' second elimination game of the day, Walters State used runs early and late, as well as a gutsy pitching performance from Tori Coffman, to get past the Golden Eagles 4-2.
With the win, Walters State improved to 45-10 on the season. The Lady Senators will play 20th-seeded Trinidad State on Thursday at 10 a.m. on the signature field.
"Tori came out and pitched a great game," Walters State coach Larry Sauceman said. "She didn't miss a beat. And we were able to string together some hits and score some runs. We're still alive and go again in the morning."
Coffman improved to 20-4 in the circle with the win. Coffman struck out seven and allowed two unearned runs on four hits. Coffman upped her strikeout total on the season to 262. Her ERA now stands at 0.98.
At the plate, the Lady Senators offense woke up. Walters State collected 10 hits. Kailey Dixon led the way with three hits and an RBI, while Haidyn Campbell and Abigail Taylor had two hits each.
"Dixon is a heck of a ballplayer," Sauceman said. "She loves to play. Haidyn Campbell had a big hit, as well. I'm tickled to death."
The Lady Senators had struggled to score early in games so far this week, but Walters State came out quick against Southern Idaho. Nora Mack started it in the bottom of the first with a walk and scored on an RBI double by Brooklyn Copley. Sarah Evers then singled to put runners on the corners and an error scored Copley to make it 2-0.
That was the score for the next four and a half innings, as Coffman mowed down the Golden Eagles. Coffman got three groundouts in the second, stranded a runner on second in the third, got Southern Idaho 1-2-3 in the fourth, struck out two in the fifth and struck out two more in the sixth.
Finally in the bottom of the sixth, Walters State got some insurance. After two quick outs, Taylor singled and scored on a Campbell double off the wall in left. Dixon was next up, and she smoked a ball off the wall in center for an RBI triple that made it 4-0.
Southern Idaho would not go quietly in the seventh, as they cut the lead to 4-2 with one out. However, Coffman struck the final two batters out to win the game.
"Those runs in the seventh were huge," Sauceman said. "I'm happy for the girls and proud of them. They still got fight in them."
Rob Harvey
Walters State Community College
Sports Information Director
Cell: (423) 779-8880
Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu
Website: www.ws.edu/athletics