Senior
Justine Fulton supplied a big bat as the Southern Oregon softball team split a pair of games with Oregon Tech today in Klamath Falls.
Southern Oregon exploded in the first game to claim an 11-7 victory. Oregon Tech came back to win the second game 8-3.
The split gives Oregon Tech the upperhand in the race for the final the final spot in the three-team Cascade Conference postseason tournament.
Oregon Tech improved 25-23 overall and 12-10 in conference play. Southern Oregon sits at 15-21 overall and 11-11 in league action. Both teams travel to fifth-ranked Concordia this weekend. SOU takes on the Cavaliers on Friday.
SOU starting pitcher
Karri Johnson helped herself out in the first inning of the opener.
Kathryn Moy started the inning by getting hit by a pitch. A sacrifice bunt by Fulton was followed by another hit by pitch and a walk before Johnson cleared the bases with a double and an early 3-0 SOU lead.
The Raiders added three more in the second with a two-run double by Fulton and an RBI single by
Bailey Price.
Oregon Tech bounced back with five runs on two hits and two SOU errors in the bottom of the second to make things interesting.
In the fourth,
Meghan Laughlin doubled and scored on a single by
Sarah Wharton to push the score to 7-5.
SOU added insurance runs in the top of the sixth as Fulton singled and then scored on an error and then Johnson blasted a two-run home run into a head-on wind for a 10-5 lead. Laughlin then drove in a run with a single in the seventh.
OIT's Brittany Cherry cut the lead to 11-7 with a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh.
Johnson led the Raiders on the mound and with the bat. With the bat, Johnson collected three hits and drove in five runs. Fulton, Laughlin and
Rayna Okimoto all had two hits and Laughlin scored three runs.
In the nightcap, the Raiders got on the board in the third inning.
Moy broke the school record for doubles in a season with her 15th with two outs in the inning and then Fulton continued her torrid doubleheader with a two-run shot over the wall in right-center for a 2-0 lead.
Oregon Tech broke it open in the bottom of the third inning, scoring six runs on six hits, including a three-run home run by Brittany Cherry.
Southern Oregon added a run in fourth as Wharton doubled and then scored on a double by Okimoto, but that would be it for the Raiders.
Fulton and Laughlin had a pair of hits for the Raiders.