PRESCOTT, Ariz. – After dropping the first game of the day in the battle against Westcliff for the 2023 California Pacific Conference Softball Championship, Embry-Riddle came back in the second game behind the pitching of senior Kate Delaney (Fort Collings, Colo.) and a walk-off home run from fellow senior Diana Miranda Montano (Tucson, Ariz.) to claim its second consecutive league title. Both games ended on the eight-run rule, with the Warriors taking game one, 13-3, before the Eagles came back with a 9-0 win. With the win the Eagles will advance to the NAIA National Championship Opening Round., with the Eagles placement in the bracket announced May 9 at 2:00 pm MST.

Game 1

Westcliff jumped out early in game one with three runs in the first inning, including getting a two-run home run. The Warriors then put a six-spot on the board in the third, banging out five hits, including a triple and double, to jump out to a 9-0 lead.

Embry-Riddle battled back in the bottom half of the inning, loading the bases on a pair of singles and a hit batter for Delaney. She lofted a ball to deep center that just missed going out for the grand slam, falling for a three-run double.

That was as close as the Eagles would get, however, as Westcliff went on to add two runs in the fourth and fifth to close out the victory and set up a winner take all show down in game two.

Game 2

Like she was the day before, Delaney dominated the Westcliff lineup, tossing her second straight no-hitter. She went through the order the first time without allowing a runner before a pair of hit batters in the fourth led to Warriors on the corners with two down. Delaney struck out the final hitter to shut down the threat and then set down the final six in order to close out her second straight gem. She finished with a six-inning no hitter, striking out six and allowing just the two runners.

ERAU's offense struck early with all the runs it would need. Junior Maddie Judge (Oro Valley, Ariz.) led off the first with a single and scored on freshman Leah Salas' (Sahuarita, Ariz.) double. In the second freshman Jade Bayless (Redondo Beach, Calif.) put the Eagles up 3-0 with a two-run homer.

In the fifth Judge tripled in junior Meredith Tutrone (Scottsdale, Ariz.), who had led off with a single. Salas then plated Judge with a single before eventually scoring on a sac fly off the bat of sophomore Emma Almodoba (Tucson, Ariz.), making it 6-0.

Embry-Riddle closed it out in the sixth, getting singles from sophomore Lily Anderson (Flagstaff, Ariz.) and Tutrone to start the inning. After a sacrifice by Judge moved the runners up, Miranda Montano ended it when she belted her fifth home run of the year to walk it off via the eight-run rule.