Eighth-seeded Chattanooga State stormed into the final four of the NJCAA Division I softball tournament with two losers-bracket wins Thursday night in Yuma, Arizona.
The Lady Tigers jumped quickly ahead in both games, with a five-run first inning in a 9-7 defeat of third-seeded Wallace State (56-4) and a six-run second in a six-inning 11-3 thrashing of 14th-seeded Paris (Texas).
Two other Texas schools, fifth-seeded Odessa and seventh-seeded McLennan, meet Friday in the winners-bracket final. Then Chattanooga State (56-9) will have a 5 p.m. rematch with No. 1 Florida SouthWestern, the reigning champion that edged second-seeded Yavapai 10-9 in 10 innings in their elimination game Thursday night.
Sam Ryan improved her 2022 pitching record for the Lady Tigers to 23-4 in the victory over Wallace, which was 3-1 against them in the regular season. Adyson Slayback (10-1) got the last two outs of that game and pitched a six-hitter against Paris.
Offensively, Camryn Cernuto was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI against Wallace, when Ashlyn Holland was 2-for-3 with a home run and four RBIs and Katlin Leverette, Marquila Howell and Taylor Penning each had two hits also. Reagan Hartley went 4-for-4 with four runs and Leverette homered, singled and batted in three runs against Paris. Maggie Knight added two RBIs.