2/4 p.m. Friday - Northwest Christian at SOU - Live Stats

11 a.m./1 p.m. Saturday - #23 Corban at SOU - Live Stats

ASHLAND – With 10 games left in the regular season, the Southern Oregon University softball team has reached the home stretch.

And with their last four home games coming this weekend in the middle of a fight for a postseason berth, now is an ideal time for the Raiders to get hot.

Recent up-and-down play has been good enough for the Raiders (27-19 overall, 8-10 Cascade Conference) to claim a half-game edge for fourth and final CCC playoff spot. Northwest Christian (10-25, 7-10), the team directly behind them in the standings, visits University Field for a 2 p.m. doubleheader Friday. At 11 a.m. Saturday, the Raiders and 23rd-ranked Corban (30-9, 13-4) will play two.

SOU will accept donations Friday for Asante Breast Cancer Awareness Day, and on Saturday the Raiders will honor four seniors – Gina Ayala (Norwalk, Calif./Santa Fe), Cheyenne Bricker (Bieber, Calif./Big Valley), Alyssa Fielding (Novato, Calif./San Marin) and Megan Scherer (Oakland, Calif./Bishop O'Dowd) – prior to their final home game.

The Raiders took one of two Wednesday from 12th-ranked Oregon Tech, ending an eight-game series losing streak against the Owls and scoring their first win against a top-three team in the CCC. They were swept by Corban (2-10, 2-11) and split with NCU (0-5, 6-2) the first time through the conference.

Short Hops:

- Ally Painter (La Palma, Calif./St. Joseph) has hit safely in nine of SOU's last 12 games. She is 14-for-37 during that stretch, raising her batting average 80 points to .264.

- In SOU's last seven games, center fielder Megan Winton (Davis, Calif./Davis Senior) is 11-for-22 with five extra-base hits, seven runs scored and six RBIs.

- Brianne Craig (Rialto, Calif./Etiwanda)'s complete-game victory against Oregon Tech was her 12th of the season. She's allowed two earned runs or less in 11 of 15 starts this season with a 2.15 ERA.

- Kelsey Randall (Concord, Calif./Concord)'s ranks in SOU's single-season record books stand at third in runs scored (47), fourth in hits (66) and second in stolen bases (32). She's up to 18 multi-hit games, and her .418 batting average would also rank fifth. She's also committed just one error in her last 20 games at shortstop.

- The Raiders are 23-2 when leading after five innings but 1-12 when trailing after five.

- In conference games SOU is fifth in the CCC in batting average (.306), runs (80) and ERA (4.91).

About NCU: The Beacons are at the bottom of the league in runs scored (61) during CCC play but have stayed afloat with the fourth-best ERA (4.42) and four one-run wins. They've lost four of five coming into the weekend, totaling just seven runs in those losses. Kaeli Massetto (.338) and Addy Hoskins (.324) lead a lineup with limited firepower (their slugging percentage of .322 is easily last in the league), while Jill Suratt heads the rotation with a 5-10 record and 3.04 ERA.

About Corban: The Warriors are averaging 9.7 runs during their current nine-game win streak. A short porch at home has enabled them to hit 54 home runs, but their opponents have hit just 19. Shortstop Kyrianna Sorensen is batting .430 with 11 homers and 43 RBIs, and she's at .549 with seven of those homers during CCC play. Their ace is Jessica Holsinger, who is 9-2 with a 2.56 ERA, and Emily Buhrkuhl sports a 12-4 record and a 3.61 ERA. Their 3.18 ERA during CCC play ranks first.