OLATHE, Kan. -- The Missouri Valley College softball team finds itself on a precarious perch for a post-season berth.

The Lady Vikings could have locked up the eighth and final spot in the Heart of America Conference Tournament with a split Saturday at MidAmerica Nazarene. Instead, the Lady Pioneers swept, 7-1 and 6-4, making Valley's home game tonight against Avila potentially significant.

Junior Talia Bodine limited the Lady Vikings to six hits in the opener, striking out six, while her MidAmerica teammates gradually built a lead. Junior Sylina Santell smashed a pair of homers, a three-run shot in the third and a two-run belt in the fifth, to give the Lady Pioneers all the runs they needed.

Valley's loss in the nightcap was heart-breaking, since it took a 4-0 lead into the bottom of the fifth. Junior Heather Sliger singled in a run in the third and scored on junior Suzanne Horine's double in the fifth. The Lady Vikings added two more runs during that rally, both on a single by sophomore Sydney Kaneshiro.

However, the lead wouldn't last as MidAmerica tallied six runs in the home half of the fifth. Singles by sophomore Darreika Dick, freshman Margaret Lear and Santell drove in run to close the margin to a run, with a booted grounder bringing in the tying and go-ahead runs and a passed ball giving the Lady Pioneers (14-26, 9-9 HAAC) a two-run lead.

Valley got two runners on board in both the sixth and seventh innings, but all were stranded by sophomore reliever Melissa Rupert.

If the Lady Vikings (15-25, 7-12) can beat Avila today, then the outcome of Graceland's doubleheader against Culver-Stockton doesn't matter -- since Valley won both games this season against the Lady Yellowjackets.

Otherwise, the Lady Vikings will have to hope Graceland loses at least one of those games in order to make the field for the HAAC tourney, which begins Thursday at Springfield.