Pacheco's Walk-Off Makes Winner of Pearcy and Pioneers

MNU advanced to the winner's bracket with an 8-inning 1-0 walk-off victory over Baker in the HAAC tournament on Thursday. Both starting pitchers were dominant. Neither team even put two runners on base in an inning until the eighth, and MNU didn't have a runner in scoring position until the eighth. MNU's Taylor Pearcy struck out 10 and Baker's Mallorie Nelson fanned 13. Finally in the bottom of the eighth, Macie Jones led off with a single. A failed bunt and a strikeout saw Jones still at first with 2 outs, but Lorena Martinez battled for 10 pitches to earn a walk and set up Alexis Pacheco. Pacheco was 0-2 with a walk and 2 strikeouts, and she fell behind 0-2 in her final at bat. But a wild pitch moved up the runners, and the 2-2 pitch was looped into center field to end the game.

Pearcy earned her 16th win with an 8-inning 5-hit 10-strikeout complete game shutout, and Alexis Pacheco (1-3, RBI, BB), Kaity Wills (1-3), and Macie Jones (1-2, R, BB) recorded MNU's 3 hits.

MNU is 25-23. The 3-seed Pioneers face 2-seed Avila (29-11) on Friday at 11:00. The loser plays again at 1:00, and the winner plays again at 3:00.