Prescott, Ariz.- Playing in the second elimination game of the GSAC Championships, Arizona Christian beat Park Gilbert in five innings on Wednesday evening to advance to Championship Thursday.

Game Info

• Game one score: Arizona Christian - 10, Park Gilbert - 2
• Game two score: Arizona Christian - 
• Records: Arizona Christian - 25-24, Park - 18-21
• NAIA Top 25 ranking: Arizona Christian - not ranked, 
• Location: Eagles Softball Field, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Prescott, AZ

ACU Game One Stats

• Jyden Miles - 3-3, BB, RBI, 2 runs
• Sierra Lauko - 2-3, 2B, 2 RBI, run
• Elena Garcia - 2-3, 2 runs, RBI
• Brenna Henry - 2-3, 2B, RBI
• Taylor Fogleman - 1-3, 3 RBI
• Dayna Herrera - 1-3, run, RBI
• Morgan Bradford - 1-2, RBI
• Kaitlin Terzakos - 1-2, run
• Rachel Martin - 1-3, run
• Hannah Butcher - CG win, 3 K

Inside Game One

• The first four Buccaneers reached and add in a sac fly and they claimed a 2-0 lead 
• ACU had their first three batters reach with Herrera driving in Miles
• Bradford produced a sac fly and Fogleman ground out to both collect an RBI and give ACU a 3-2 edge after one
• Then came the second inning when the Firestorm plated six runs
• Four straight singles results in an RBI for Garcia
• Lauko doubled in two and the next batter Fogleman singled home two more
• Henry doubled home Fogleman and ACU held a comfortable 9-2 advantage
• Butcher worked around first and second no one out in the fourth
• Including the three outs in the fourth, Butcher retired the last six batters she faced with the last two  coming via strikeout
• In the fifth, Henry singled, Mekhia Wagner pinch ran, and Miles invoked the mercy rule with an RBI single
• All Firestorm that batted collected a hit and RBI and/or run scored
• ACU advances to championship day for the first time since they were crowned GSAC tournament champions in 2016

Thoughts from Assistant Coach Buckley
"We are super proud of the all around team fight and aggressive approach. Hannah delivered a great performance, keeping the hitters off balance and locking it down. The offense was electric all the way through the line up. Defense continues to play lights out. The past two days have been a great example of a collective team fight to continue to step on the field together! We are ready to get after it and continue this fight going into tomorrow."

Up Next
The third seeded Arizona Christian will face host and second seed Embry-Riddle (AZ) at 12:00 pm on Thursday.  The Firestorm must win game one to force a winner take all game two at 3:00 pm.