winton
Photo courtesy of Lindsey Wilson.
4
Southern Oregon SOU 36-17
6
Winner Marian (Ind.) MU 45-9
Southern Oregon SOU
36-17
4
Final
6
Marian (Ind.) MU
45-9
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Southern Oregon SOU 0 0 0 3 0 0 1 4 7 1
Marian (Ind.) MU 0 2 2 0 0 2 X 6 7 1

W: SMITH, Breena (25-4) L: White, Sydney (14-10)

Game Recap: Softball | | SOU Sports Information

SOU drops tourney opener to Marian, plays elimination game Tuesday

*TUESDAY UPDATE: Today's Ashford vs. SOU game time has been moved up to 12:30 p.m. PT due to inclement weather.

COLUMBIA, Ky. – Southern Oregon managed to dirty Marian ace Breena Smith's nearly pristine earned-run average on Monday afternoon, just not enough to overcome the rest of the 17th-ranked Knights in a 6-4 loss that marked the first game of the Lindsey Wilson NAIA Opening Round bracket.

A second-inning error turned costly for the 21st-ranked Raiders (36-17 overall) when it made way for the first two runs of the game and gave the Knights (45-9) a lead they never relinquished. SOU hit up Smith (25-4) – who owned a 0.96 ERA and had given up more than two runs just twice in 27 starts coming into the day – for seven hits and four runs and brought the potential tying run to the plate in the seventh before getting sent to the loser's bracket of the double-elimination tournament.

The Raiders will play at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday against Ashford (Iowa), which lost to top-seeded Lindsey Wilson, 6-1, in Monday's other game. If they advance, they'll play another elimination game at 3 p.m. Tuesday but would need two more wins Wednesday to advance to the 10-team NAIA World Series.

Marian, which has won 31 of its last 34 overall, got Morgan Burtron on to lead off the bottom of the second when her grounder to shortstop off SOU pitcher Sydney White was bobbled. With Burtron at second and Mackenzie Reeder at second and two out, Vanessa Lay and Hannah Williams came through with back-to-back RBI singles.

The Knights made it 4-0 in the third when Sam Pash poked White's 2-2 offering with two outs into shallow center field, scoring Erica Miller and Carly Greene.

SOU cut into the lead in the top of the fourth – going into which Smith had yielded just two earned runs in her previous 35 innings of work. Megan Winton's second hit of the game, a single with one out, started the rally, and Abigail Lund kept it alive with a two-out single. Aaliyah Oliver then drove a two-run triple to the fence in right field, and Kelsey Randall followed that smash with an RBI blooper to left, making it 4-3.

White (14-10) blanked the Knights in the fourth and fifth but walked the bases loaded with no outs in the sixth, prompting Victoria Mackey to relieve her. Mackey only allowed one hit, Miller's RBI single, but a fielder's choice scored a second run and pushed Marian's lead to 6-3.

SOU got one more run off Smith in the seventh – Oliver and Alexa Gonzalez singled, ad Kayleen Smith hit a sacrifice fly – but that was all. Smith struck out four and walked two in the complete game, and she avoided early damage when the Raiders left four runners on (including three in scoring position) through the first three innings.

White yielded six hits and six runs (four earned) in five-plus innings with two strikeouts and three walks.
Print Friendly Version