ASHLAND – Dominant pitching and contributions up and down the lineup was the winning formula in Southern Oregon's sweep of Eastern Oregon on Saturday afternoon at University Field.
The Raiders won 4-0 and 6-1 as Brianne Craig (Rialto, Calif./Etiwanda) earned her first career shutout and Cheyenne Bricker (Bieber, Calif./Big Valley) nearly matched her with a complete game. Both pitchers notched their 10th victories of the season, and SOU allowed a single run in an entire doubleheader for just the second time in the last 10 seasons.
SOU's first Cascade Conference sweep brought its win streak to three games and its record to 24-16 overall and 5-7 in the circuit. The Raiders will continue their homestand next Friday and Saturday against 17th-ranked Concordia and Northwest (Wash.).
The Mountaineers fell to 12-17 and 3-9.
Eight different Raiders got in on 11 hits in the opener and six more brought the total to 10 in the capper, led by Kelsey Randall (Concord, Calif./Concord)'s fourth four-hit game of the season.
In the third inning of Game 1, Alexa Gonzalez (Menifee, Calif./Heritage) lined a double to left-center that rolled to the fence and chased Tyler Burke (Lakewood, Calif./Lakewood) from first base for the go-ahead run. The Raiders tacked on three more in the sixth. Gonzalez, Megan Winton (Davis, Calif./Davis Senior) and Kayla Douglas (Santa Rosa, Calif./Cardinal Newman) all went 2-for-3 with an RBI, and Ally Painter (La Palma, Calif./St. Joseph) added a run-scoring single.
Craig retired 11 of the last 12 Mountaineers that came to the plate. She struck out four without a walk in a three-hitter for her 10th complete game of the season and second in as many days. She needed 77 pitches to do it after throwing 132 in Friday's 4-3 win over College of Idaho.
SOU jumped on Ashley Driscoll in the third inning of Game 2, when Alexa Gonzalez (Menifee, Calif./Heritage)'s groundout scored Krystina Pardoski (Gaberville, Calif./South Fork), who reached with a double, and Kristin Ahern (Anaheim Hills, Calif./Rosary) doubled home Randall.
In the fourth, Jazmin Ruvalcaba (Carson, Calif./Banning) stroked an RBI double and Painter made it 4-0 with a single up the middle.
Randall, who earlier doubled, sent an RBI triple to left-center in the sixth and scored on a wild pitch. Winton added two more hits, including a double, and scored twice.
Bricker punched out five, walked three and yielded seven hits. She blanked EOU through the first five innings and struck out the side in the third.
Gracie Flyg's double resulted in EOU's only run. Andrea Roeder singled twice.
The Raiders have won six straight against the Mountaineers dating back to last season.
