smith
Al Case, Ashland Daily Photo
4
Winner Southern Oregon SOU 33-14
2
Northwest (Wash.) NU 11-28
Winner
Southern Oregon SOU
33-14
4
Final
2
Northwest (Wash.) NU
11-28
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Southern Oregon SOU 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 4 9 4
Northwest (Wash.) NU 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 X 2 6 2

W: White, Sydney (1-0) L: PECKHAM, Kelli (0-1)

11
Winner Southern Oregon SOU 34-14
2
Northwest (Wash.) NU 11-29
Winner
Southern Oregon SOU
34-14
11
Final
2
Northwest (Wash.) NU
11-29
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 R H E
Southern Oregon SOU 0 0 4 2 3 2 11 13 0
Northwest (Wash.) NU 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 4 3

W: Mackey, Victoria (1-0) L: YELAS, Hannah (0-1)

Game Recap: Softball | | SOU Sports Information

No. 22 SOU clinches CCC West Division with sweep at Northwest

KIRKLAND, Wash. – Thanks to another stout road performance and a little help from a neighbor up north, the 22nd-ranked Southern Oregon softball team doesn't have to share anything after all. The Cascade Conference West Division title belongs solely to the Raiders.

SOU completed its surprise ascent to first place and closed in on its first national postseason appearance in nine years Saturday with a pair of wins over Northwest – 4-2 in eight innings and 11-2 in six on the final day of the regular season at Everest Park. The Raiders (34-14 overall, 15-5 CCC West, 20-8 CCC overall) entered the day tied atop the division (and in possession of the tiebreaker) with No. 19 Oregon Tech, but OIT dropped both halves of its twin bill Saturday at British Columbia.

Kayleen Smith went 5-for-6 on the day, scoring the go-ahead run in the first extra inning of the opener and going 3-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and two runs scored as SOU scored 11 unanswered runs to put the mercy rule in effect in Game 2. Sydney White (13-8) and Victoria Mackey (15-2) picked up two more complete-game victories in the circle, helping the Raiders finish with the top team earned-run average (2.47) in conference play.

The Raiders – who were picked to finish fifth overall in the CCC and third in the West Division – now have their highest win total since going 39-19 in 2005. On May 6-8, they'll host the six-team conference tournament at University Field, where the CCC's two automatic berths to the 40-team NAIA Championships opening round will be awarded. If they don't snag one of those, they've also positioned themselves to possibly pick up one of the NAIA's limited at-large berths.

In Game 1, SOU broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning. Smith and Rebecca Velasquez led off with back-to-back singles, and Amelia Hensler's sacrifice bunt resulted in an error that scored both runners. Northwest tied it with two runs (one unearned) in the bottom of the inning, and both teams fired blanks until the eighth.

There, Smith led off with an infield single and stole second. Aaliyah Oliver followed with an infield single that advanced Smith and stole second, and Tyler Burke's sacrifice fly made it 3-2. With two outs, Megan Winton singled up the middle to score Oliver, and White set the Eagles down in order in the bottom of the inning.

White struck out seven and worked around six hits and six walks for her 11th straight start with two earned runs or less on her line.

The Eagles struck first in Game 2 with two runs in the second inning, including Allie Anderegg's solo homer, but that's all they got off Mackey, who yielded four hits and a walk with four strikeouts.

In the third, Gonzalez tied the game with a two-run single and Smith untied it with an RBI double before scoring on an error. Kelsey Randall hit a two-run single in the fourth, and in the fifth Velasquez had an RBI single before Nicole Cardoza's two-run homer to center – her second of the season.

Randall went 4-for-6 on the day. On the weekend, the first four hitters in SOU's lineup combined to go 25-for-43 (.581).
 
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