2/4 p.m. Friday - SOU at Corban - Live Stats/Stream
11 a.m./1 p.m. Saturday - SOU at Northwest Christian

ASHLAND – A split last weekend against Northwest, a team that won two games last season, was easy for Southern Oregon to shrug off given that it was only the starting point of a 28-game Cascade Conference schedule.

Ten days from now, however, the Raiders (20-10 overall, 1-1 CCC) will already be halfway through that schedule. They'll play six doubleheaders in that time, starting on the road Friday and Saturday at Corban (21-5, 5-1) and Northwest Christian (5-17, 2-4).

On Wednesday, SOU will meet 16^th-ranked Concordia (21-9, 2-2) in Eugene for a make-up doubleheader. Then the Raiders are home for three scheduled twin bills – Wednesday against No. 13 Oregon Tech (18-6, 2-0), Friday against College of Idaho (10-14, 2-2) and Saturday against Eastern Oregon (10-9, 1-3).

"We had a tough preseason that prepared us for a stretch like this, so there won't be any excuses," SOU head coach Jessica Pistole said. "We should find out a lot about the kind of team we are, and I'm hoping some of our players will start to separate themselves and we can have a more firm, consistent lineup."

A scheduling quirk has the Raiders playing their first eight CCC games away from home, 14 of the next 16 in Ashland, and the last four on the road.

Rankings: Southern Oregon has not appeared in the NAIA Top 25 poll since April of 2006, but the Raiders took a step in the right direction this week when were among the teams receiving votes in the first rankings of the regular season.  With 20 poll points, SOU was technically 35^th overall. Oregon Tech moved up four spots to No. 13, Concordia dropped one to 16^th and Corban received the 26^th-most votes. Oklahoma City took over the top spot after starting the preseason at No. 5.

A Bricker bulletin: Cheyenne Bricker (Bieber, Calif./Big Valley) stayed hot on the mound last week by closing out SOU's 8-4 win at Northwest with a three-inning save in which she allowed just one hit and notched a career-high six strikeouts. After throwing 8 1/3 innings last season, she's already up to 70 this year with an 8-2 record and a 2.40 earned-run average. Bricker has given up nine earned runs in her last 40 innings.

Power surging: Krystina Pardoski (Gaberville, Calif./South Fork) and Davalin Ontiveros (Bakersfield, Calif./Centennial) hit two-run homers in SOU's latest win. Pardoski's was her third of the season, tying her for the team lead with Alexa Gonzalez (Menifee, Calif./Heritage). Eight different Raiders have homered for a total of 14 blasts, already more than they had the last two seasons. SOU's 2012 team hit 45 – easily the most in program history.

Still streaking: Freshman shortstop Kelsey Randall (Concord, Calif./Concord) has hit safely in five straight games to maintain her .453 batting average and team-high totals of 48 hits, 12 doubles and 35 runs scored. She's also stolen 25 bases in 31 attempts, putting her at No. 3 in SOU single-season history.

Randall and third baseman Alexa Gonzalez (Menifee, Calif./Heritage) (.425) are two of 10 players in the conference with batting averages over .400.

About Corban: Led by sophomore third baseman Anne Binschus (.449 BA, 4 HRs, 23 RBI), the Warriors are hitting .336 as a team. But their strength is on the mound, where Danielle Horne, Jessica Holsinger and Emily Buhrkuhl have combined for a 19-3 record and an ERA of 2.30. They've won five straight, allowing two runs or less in four of those games and averaging 8.4 runs. SOU swept four games from the Warriors last year and leads the all-time series, 30-19.

About Northwest Christian: After losing 11 of 12 to start the season, the Beacons have picked up their pace slightly with splits in two of three conference series. Kaeli Massetto (.385) leads a lineup that has a collective batting average of .250 and has drawn 24 less walks than its opponents. Jill Suratt is 1-6 on the mound but has an ERA of 3.97. SOU lost three of four to the Beacons last year but leads the all-time series, 42-10.