Update: Friday's games in Medford will be delayed by rain, pushing Game 1 back to a 3 p.m. start time at U.S. Cellular Community Park.

3/5 p.m. Friday – British Columbia at #18 SOU (U.S. Cellular Community Park)
12/2 p.m. Saturday – British Columbia at #18 SOU (University Field) – Live Stream | Live Stats

ASHLAND – An unfavorable forecast has forced Southern Oregon University to make a preemptive change in venue for Friday's half of a four-game Cascade Conference series against University of British Columbia.

The first two games will be played at 3 and 5 p.m. Friday at Medford's U.S. Cellular Community Park, where the artificial turf is better suited to withstand expected rain. Saturday's games are still scheduled to be played at University Field in Ashland but the times have been changed to noon and 2 p.m.

The Raiders (21-4 overall, 8-1 CCC) and Thunderbirds (1-12, 0-6) come into the meetings heading in opposite directions. SOU has won nine in a row, sitting in first place with Corban after consecutive sweeps of Great Falls (Mont.) and Northwest (Wash.), and UBC has lost 11 straight and been outscored 111-40 this season.

Inside the Surge: The Raiders' streak is their longest since they won 15 in a row in 2005, and the start is their best since they opened the 2004 season 23-4. During this nine-game stretch, they've come from behind four times and waited until the fourth inning or later to take the lead seven times. Their pitching staff has remained steady – it has a 2.67 ERA during the steak and a 2.28 ERA for the season – but the lineup has come around: In the first 16 games of the season the Raiders batted .294 with 22 extra-base hits and 37 walks, and in the last nine games they've batted .344 with 26 extra-base hits and 39 walks.

NAIA Top 25: SOU got back in the NAIA Top 25 Tuesday, debuting at No. 18 in the first coaches' poll of the regular season. The Raiders are one of nine teams new to the rankings after being left out of the preseason poll, though there are five such teams ahead of them and three that have accrued more losses. Oregon Tech, which started at No. 19 and is now No. 22, is the only other CCC team in the Top 25, while Corban is receiving votes. The Raiders were also unranked in last year's preseason before going to No. 16 in the first regular-season poll after a 15-7 start for their first appearance in 10 years. They went into the NAIA World Series Opening Round ranked 21st.

Short Hops:
– Freshman Karlee Coughlin, who allowed six hits and one earned run over 12 innings and two complete games in last weekend's sweep at Northwest, is now 7-0 and one of two qualified pitchers in the CCC with an ERA under 2.00 (1.92). Gabby Sandoval sits at 10-3 with a 2.28 ERA, and Victoria Mackey has still yet to allow a run in 12 2/3 innings – opponents are batting .053 against her – since her return. Dating back to last season, Mackey has gone 19 innings and seven appearances without allowing an earned run.
– SOU's fielding percentage of .970 is the seventh-best in the NAIA. Opponents are fielding .918.
– Kelsey Randall's five triples are the third-most in the NAIA. During an active 10-game hitting streak, she's gone 22-for-37 (.595) with 12 runs scored and five extra-base hits.
– Kayleen Smith had three multi-hit games in a row at Northwest and owns 11 this season. She's now 19-for-21 on stolen-base attempts; the next-highest total in the CCC is 13. During her two seasons at SOU, she's also struck out just three times in 296 plate appearances.
– Taylor Martinez hit her fourth home run of the season at Northwest. Only two Raiders hit five in a season over the previous four years.

About UBC:
– The Thunderbirds are 4-7 all-time against SOU and have lost seven straight in a series that dates back to 2013. They lost last year's four games by a combined score of 35-8.
– Picked to finish seventh in the standings, UBC is in the midst of a brutal opening to CCC play in which it will have played Corban, Oregon Tech and SOU – the top three teams in the standings – all on the road.
– Last year's UBC team that went 11-17 in the conference lost five players. Two returners, Hillary Strelau (.452) and Claire Eccles (.375), lead the team in hitting. Strelau is working on a 12-game hit steak and is 8-for-8 on steals. Lexie Brenneis, a transfer from Montana, has knocked in 11 of the team's 40 runs.
– Their two top pitchers, Zoe Gillis and Lindsay Ogilvie, have conceded 66 earned runs in 59 2/3 innings.