COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- April 23, 2023 -- The Chadron State College softball team won their seventh straight game and got one game closer to a playoff berth Sunday, defeating UCCS in two games.

CSC won game one 8-1 before winning game two 11-3, earning the complete series sweep over the Mountain Lions.

With the victories, the Eagles improve to 24-23 overall and 22-18 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play, a win percentage of .550.

Fort Lewis currently holds the sixth and final spot in the playoffs and is one spot above CSC in the standings. The Skyhawks went 1-1 against Adams State today, dropping their conference win percentage to .553.

Tori Haug only allowed two hits in game one, helping CSC earn the 8-1 victory.

Scoring started for Chadron State in the top of the first after Lauren Zimmerman, a sophomore from Reno, Nevada, hit a solo homerun to center field.

The Mountain Lions quickly tied the game in the bottom of the inning with a solo homer of their own.

Scoring was halted until the fifth inning but the Eagles would score the final seven runs of the game.

Zimmerman would add another RBI in the top of the sixth inning with an RBI double, scoring Aliyah Rothstein.

A Jazlyn Arvizo single that scored Mackenzi Kroll in the top of the sixth inning brought home the first of five runs in the inning.

Brady Laucomer, a freshman from Scottsbluff, doubled to left center, scoring J'lyssa Martinez and Jessie Henchenski.

The Eagles would extend their lead to 6-1 on a Bailey Steinke single that scored Laucomer.

An RBI single from Zimmerman scored Steinke to end the innings scoring.

Henchenski, a junior from Fort Collins, Colorado, added a solo homerun in the bottom of the seventh inning to end the games scoring, giving CSC the 8-1 victory.

Haug, a junior from Commerce City, Colorado, improved to 8-14 with the victory. While only allowing the two hits, Haug walked two batters and struck out eight, tying her season high.

Braelyne Crenshaw dropped to 2-16 on the season for the Mountain Lions.

Chadron State's 11-3 victory in game two only took five innings.

Zimmerman once against started the scoring in the top of the first with an RBI double, scoring Steinke.

Ashland Baca added two more runs in the inning with a homer, scoring herself and Jaelyn Martinez-Lewis.

A Laucomer solo homer in the top of the second extended CSC's lead to 4-0.

UCCS scored their first run of the game in the bottom of the second inning on an RBI double.

The Eagles responded with a two run third inning. Laucomer started the scoring with an RBI single, bringing Sloane Quijas home.

A Steinke single to left field added the final run of the inning, scoring Henchenski.

Two more runs were scored by CSC in the fourth inning.

An error by the Mountain Lion defense on a Quijas single advanced her to second base and brought Kroll home.

Henchenski would follow up the error with an RBI double, scoring Quijas.

Another RBI-double in the fourth inning added a run for the Mountain Lions, lowering their deficit to 8-2.

Zimmerman added her fourth homerun of the series in the top of the fifth inning, saving her best for last.

With the NCAA run rule being eight runs after five innings and winning by six, Zimmerman blasted a three-run homer, scoring Rothstein and Steinke.

Trailing 11-2, UCCS added a third run in the bottom of the fifth inning, but were unable to lower their deficit to seven.

Kenzi Garner, a sophomore from Broomfield, Colorado, earned her first victory of the season for CSC.

Garner allowed seven hits and three runs, while walking three batters and striking out two.

The Eagles had a season high fifteen hits in the victory.

Chadron State's playoff hopes will be decided next weekend when they host CSU-Pueblo. The games are scheduled for Thursday, April 27 and Friday, April 28.

First pitch on Thursday is scheduled for 12 and 2 p.m., while Friday's games will start at 11 a.m., and 1 p.m.

Grasis tied second after round one

LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- April 23, 2023 -- Jordan Grasis, a junior from Yuma, Arizona, is tied second overall and CSC is in ninth place as a team after round one of the RMAC Championships in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The tournament consists of three rounds, starting today and playing through Tuesday.

As a team, the Eagles shot 317 (+26).

Grasis led CSC shooting a 71 (-1). Her front nine consisted of birdies on holes two, seven and nine. She shot bogey on holes six and eight, finishing -1.

Seven pars found her scorecard on the back nine. A birdie and a bogey equaled each other out, keeping her at one under for the day.

Grasis's 71 is the second lowest round shot by an Eagle golfer in school history. Her teammate, Alpine Hickstein, shot a 70 at the El Cheapo Classic during the 2020-21 season.

Next on the leader board for CSC is Brooke Kramer, who is tied 33rd after shooting an 80 (+8).

Kramer, a junior from Aurora, Colorado, finished +5 on the front nine and +3 on the back.

Her front nine scorecard consisted of three bogeys and a double bogey, while her back nine had four bogeys and a birdie.

Tied 42nd is Kenzey Kanno, a junior from Mitchell and Allison Acosta, a junior from Oro Valley, Arizona.

Kanno shot +6 on the front nine and +5 on the back, finishing with an 83 (+11).

Her front nine had four bogeys and one double bogey. Three bogeys and one double bogey found the scorecard on the back nine.

Acosta's scorecard had five bogeys on the front nine. Her back nine started with a double bogey before finding a birdie. The birdie was followed by six straight bogeys before finding a birdie on hole 18.

Hickstein, a senior from Chadron, is tied 51st after shooting an 88 (+16).

Two double bogeys and five bogeys were on Hicksteins scorecard on the front nine. Her back nine scorecard had four bogeys, two double-bogeys and one birdie.

CSU-Pueblo currently leads the tournament after shooting a 292 (+4) as a team.

The Eagles will continue the conference championships tomorrow when they tee off for round 2.