Phoenix Horizon softball coach Lindsey Collins was a bundle of nerves, and it wasn’t because her soon-to-be-born bundle of joy was kicking inside her tummy.

It was because Horizon had allowed a 4-0 lead to dwindle to 4-3 in the top of the seventh inning of Saturday’s (May 4) Division I elimination game against Phoenix Desert Vista at the Rose Mofford Sports Complex in Phoenix.

Desert Vista’s Kylee Wiegl had clubbed a three-run homer off Horizon pitching ace “T’’ Statman with two outs.

Statman regained her composure, however, and finished the job, striking out the final batter and allowing the eighth-seeded Huskies to hold on for a 4-3 win over the 20^th-seeded Thunder.

Horizon advances to a Tuesday night (May 7) game against the loser of Monday’s (May 6) winner’s bracket game between top-seeded Glendale Mountain Ridge and No. 5 Mesa Mountain View.

No. 14 Scottsdale Chaparral defeated No. 2 Vail Cienega 12-3 in Saturday’s other loser’s bracket game, and will play again on Tuesday against the loser of Monday’s winner’s bracket game between No. 6 Mesa Red Mountain and No. 10 Mesa Desert Ridge.

For Collins, it wasn’t so much Statman’s pitching as it was her team’s hitting struggles. Horizon hit well earlier in the season, but has had difficulty putting the bat on the ball with much consistency of late. The Huskies were shut out by Mountain Ridge 1-0 in the second round on Wednesday (May 1) and were scoreless for four more innings on Saturday before scoring four times in the fifth inning, three on a home run by Kaila Jacobi.

“That (Desert Vista rally) is what happens when you don’t get very many runs,’’ Collins said.

“I’m worried but not worried. I know we can get there. We need to figure out what we need to do.’’

As has been the case in many of its games of late, Horizon had a big fifth inning.

“I don’t know what it is with that inning, but we can’t keep waiting until the fifth to score,’’ she said.

Statman and Desert Vista’s Danielle Block were locked in a scoreless duel, matching each other pitch for pitch.

In the fifth, Block hit a batter with one out and gave up back-to-back hits, including a double by Margaret Stahm that nearly cleared the fence in right-center. Jacobi followed with her homer to left.

Desert Vista battled back in the seventh on a bloop double by Alyssa Cerminara and an error and the home run by Wiegl. There was little doubt that it was leaving the yard.