11 a.m. (MT) Saturday – SOU at Carroll (Mont.) – Live Stats
11 a.m. (MT) Sunday – SOU at Great Falls (Mont.) – Live Stats
10 a.m. Wednesday – SOU vs. Corban (at Hoodview Park in Clackamas)

ASHLAND – As usual, weather has thrown a wrench into the early portion of Southern Oregon University's softball schedule. But the Montana sky will allegedly be clear enough this weekend for the Raiders to start Cascade Conference play.

SOU (12-6 overall) will open with a road grind, playing three CCC twin bills in a five-day span on the road – Saturday at Carroll (Mont.) (10-10 overall, 1-3 CCC), Sunday at Great Falls (Mont.) (8-6, 2-2) and Wednesday against 17th-ranked Corban (16-7, 2-0) at Hoodview Park in Clackamas. The Raiders were previously scheduled to play Tuesday at Corban and Wednesday at Northwest Christian, but the Corban contests were moved due to poor field conditions and the Northwest Christian contests have been postponed until a date that has yet to be determined.

The Raiders finished fourth in the CCC a year ago with a 13-15 record and were picked to finish fifth this year. This weekend's games will be their first of the conference variety against Carroll and Great Falls, who are now considered associate members of the CCC.

SOU had a successful preseason, going 3-1 against top-25 teams, but has only played one doubleheader since Feb. 21 because of rain. Following this road trip, the Raiders will play six home doubleheaders in a span of 12 days starting with matchups against Northwest University on March 25.

Leading Off: Kelsey Randall, Kayleen Smith and Alexa Gonzalez have provided the Raiders with a reliable top of the order, batting .395 with 32 of the teams 76 runs scored between them. Randall, an All-American shortstop, has picked up where she left off as a freshman: She's batting .431 and has an active hitting streak of 12 – just four short of matching the SOU record. Smith, a second baseman, is working on a nine-game hitting streak of her own and bats .386. The speedy duo of Randall and Smith has also combined for 18 stolen bases on 20 attempts and five triples; no other CCC team has more than three triples to this point. Gonzalez, meanwhile, has team-highs of five doubles and 16 RBIs.

The Good News:
– Freshman pitcher Victoria Mackey currently leads the CCC in wins (7-0) and earned-run averaged (1.04) and ranks second in complete games (4) and walks per seven innings (1.3). She and senior Sydney White (2-2, 3.50 ERA) have led the Raiders to a team ERA of 3.07 that's second-best in the CCC.
– The Raiders have gone errorless in seven games and are 7-0 in those contests.
– In five of the last six games, the Raiders have totaled nine hits or more. Last year, they totaled nine hits or more in five games total.
– SOU owns a team batting average of .290 compared to opponents' .249.
– The Raiders have struck out just 12 times combined in their last six games. They struck out 12 times in their season-opener at Simpson.

The Bad News:
– SOU pitchers have walked or plunked 70 batters, and Raider hitters have only drawn 32 free passes. As a result, SOU's team on-base percentage (.332) is lower than its opponents' (.348) and ranks near the bottom of the CCC.
– When the Raiders have committed two or more errors this season, they're 1-4. Of the 72 runs they've allowed, 19 have been unearned.