After playing four of their previous five doubleheaders on the road, the Southern Oregon softball team returns home this weekend to kickoff three straight home dates.

The Raiders (11-17, 7-7) host Northwest Christian (12-22, 2-10) Friday at 2 p.m. at University Field and Corban (15-18, 7-5) Saturday at 11 a.m.

SOU is in a tight battle for one of the three berths in the Cascade Conference postseason tournament.

Sixth-ranked Concordia looks to be running away with the top spot in the conference with an 11-1 league mark.

Behind them, fighting for the final two playoff spots, are four teams separated by just two losses.

Oregon Tech, College of Idaho and Corban all have five conference losses, with Southern Oregon two back with seven setbacks.

The Raiders are coming off their first conference sweep of the year, scoring 23 runs in a sweep of Eastern Oregon.

The Raiders still have two players ranked in the Top 10 of the conference's batting average category. Freshman Jessica Flores (Corning, Calif./Corning) ranks second in the conference with a .400 average, while Meghan Laughlin (Honolulu, Hawaii/Mid-Pacific Institute) ranks eighth with a .368 average. Laughlin is batting .450 in conference games, while Bailey Price (Napa, Calif./Vintage) and Flores are both batting .361 in league action.

Junior pitcher Karri Johnson (Delta, British Columbia/Sands Secondary) is 6-2 with a 2.66 ERA in conference action for the Raiders.

Northwest Christian ranks last in the conference in batting at .247, but one of their two conference victories is over SOU. Cassie Bishop leads the conference in home runs with nine.

Corban earned a split with sixth-ranked Concordia last weekend, the first setback for the Cavaliers.
Stephanie Nippert leads Corban with a .376 average and seven home runs. The Raiders and Warriors split a doubleheader earlier in the year in Salem. Corban's Tamara Feb had three home runs in Corban's victory.