Atherton, CA- With identical 3-2 wins over Vanguard and then Menlo on Friday, Arizona Christian advanced to Saturday's GSAC championship game.  Sophomore Ashlynn Preciado notched a pinch hit walk-off home against top seed Menlo to send ACU into the championship game.

In the day's opening game against Vanguard, the Firestorm (36-14-1) gave up an unearned in the first and a run in the third to fall behind the Lions (34-21) 2-0.

After squandering a first and third situation in the first and then seeing five batters in a row retired, ACU went to work in the bottom of the third with one out.  Junior Sianna Gomez started a string of five straight singles.  Seniors Alyssa Vanderdrink and Abby Beasley singled to load the bases.  Junior Kylie Christman brought home Gomez.  Two pitches later, Junior Meaghen Nelson singled to easily cash in Vanderdrink and Beasley just beat the throw to the plate for a 3-2 lead.

The Firestorm produced just one runner the rest of the game- a pinch hit single by Junior Taylor Fabing.

But Senior Jackie Aguilar pitched around trouble all day- did not ever record a 1-2-3 inning- thanks to some spectacular defense behind her.  In the fourth, Beasley fielded a single in left center then hosed down the Lion trying to stretch the hit into a double who was so far gone she did not bother even sliding.  In the fifth with runners at second and third and just one out, Senior Presley Whetman secured a pop fly in right and gunned down a Vanguard player at the plate to end the inning.

Aguilar gave up a lead-off single in the seventh but produced two groundouts and a popup- all handled by Christman at third- to secure the win, improve to 17-5 on the season, and send ACU into the winner's bracket of the GSAC tournament.

Next up was host and top seed Menlo though ACU actually played as the home team in the game- which paid huge dividends.

In the bottom of the first, Gomez (who was 4-5 on the day) singled and swiped second before coming home on a RBI single by Beasley for a quick 1-0 ACU lead.

Like Aguilar, Junior Destinee Spencer worked around base runners all game after allowing runners in every inning but one.  The Oaks (31-18) took a 2-1 edge on Spencer with two unearned runs in the third.

Fabing doubled in the second as did Vanderdrink in the third but both were left stranded.

With one out in the fourth, Nelson unleashed a drive to center to create a 2-2 tie with her third home run of the season.

Spencer (13-4) did not allow anyone past first the rest of the game as she threw a complete game.

Moving ahead to the bottom of the seventh, Head Coach Trisha Thurston called for Preciado to pinch hit to begin the inning.  Preciado did not disappoint as she drove the first pitch she saw over the left field fence for the 3-2 walk-off win.

With the win, the Firestorm will play for the GSAC Championship and automatic bid to nationals on Saturday at 12:30 pm.  Menlo will face fourth seeded San Diego Christian at 10:00 am for the right to face ACU in the championship.  If the winner of the MC/SDCC game beats ACU in the first championship game then a second and deciding championship game would be played immediately after at 2:45 pm.