HALLSVILLE, Texas-Junior southpaw Tatum Goff was as good as advertised.
Rusk's little lefty beat Atlanta, 2-1, for the second straight day, qualifying the Lady Eagles for next week's Region II quarter-finals against North Lamar.
Goff went the distance Saturday at Hallsville High School's Field of Champions. She allowed three hits, walked none and struck out 10 after holding the Lady Rabbits to two hits Friday night.
"Our girls played well both games in this series; I've said all along you've got to be good, and you've got to be lucky to win in the playoffs," Atlanta coach Tobi Dunlap said. "That's a very good team and a very good pitcher, and we played them 2-1 both games.
"We needed a break and we didn't get it. Kaydee (Kelly) fought hard today. She didn't have her best stuff, particularly her change-up. It would have been a whole different story if she could have got that pitch going. We never laid down, we kept fighting."
Unlike the series opener, Rusk (25-7) scored early against losing hurler Kaydee Kelly, who was also brilliant in both games.
Kristin Tugwell blasted a double off the left field wall to start the game, and was promptly sacrificed to third by Natalie Reither. Tugwell scored two pitches later on Lauren Boudreaux's single to left.
The Lady Eagles made it 2-0 in the second after a one-out single to left by Grace Young. Young tried to stretch the hit to a double and appeared out at second, but the ball was dropped for an error, Atlanta's only miscue of the game.
Kelly got the next batter on an infield grounder, allowing Young to reach third. She scored when Reither laced a 3-1 offering into left for a single.
Atlanta (14-12) was held hitless the first two innings, with Goff recording four of her strikeouts. The Kansas University commit retired the first two batters in the third before yielding a triple to Alyssa Simmons on a blast to right-center. Goff escaped with a grounder to the circle.
The Lady Rabbits would score their only run in the fourth when Cydnee Wood crushed a triple down the right field line to start the frame. The next batter struck out, but Wood raced home on Victoria Johnson's grounder to shortstop.
Wood smashed another shot in the sixth that took a bad hop off the second baseman's chest for a single. That hit came with two outs, and Goff survived again with a grounder to shortstop.
Goff hit Amanda Whatley with one out in the seventh, and she raced to second on a passed ball Goff's 10th strikeout followed, but Eagle fans had to take a deep breath when Rebecca Thomas' line drive was speared by first baseman Joy Bradley for the game's final out.
Boudreaux and Young led the Eagles at the plate with two hits each, while Wood had two hits for Atlanta.
"We graduate four players, and have a lot of good girls returning," Dunlap said. "We've got to work on pitching with Kaydee being a senior."
Rusk 110 000 0 - 2 7 1
Atlanta 000 100 0 - 1 3 1
Tatum Goff and Caitlyn Ballew; Kaydee Kelly and Kinsey Kelly. WP-Goff; LP-Ka. Kelly.