2 p.m. (MT) Friday – SOU at Carroll (2)
4 p.m. (MT) Saturday – SOU at Carroll (2)

ASHLAND – The Southern Oregon University softball team will bring a must-win mentality on its longest road trip of the season as it travels to play the sixth-place Carroll Saints in a four-game series Friday and Saturday in Helena, Mont.

SOU (32-9 overall, 16-5 Cascade Conference) has six CCC games left to play – three this weekend at Carroll (12-15, 8-10), and three next weekend in Ashland against third-place Eastern Oregon (25-12, 15-6). If the Raiders are to sneak into first place and earn hosting rights for the CCC Tournament, they'll need to make up three games on Corban (34-6, 18-3) because the Warriors are two games up and own the tiebreaker. Corban finishes its regular season at EOU and against Carroll.

NAIA Top 25: Even if the Raiders don't surpass Corban in the standings, they've still put themselves in good position to make a second straight appearance in the 40-team national tournament. Tuesday's latest NAIA coaches' poll had them up three spots to No. 18 thanks to an active seven-game win streak that includes last week's sweep of Oregon Tech. Last year, every team that finished in the Top 25 (along with a couple teams that didn't) received an at-large bid, if not an automatic, to play in the Opening Round.

Corban also moved up three spots to No. 15, while OIT was dropped from No. 25 to the "receiving votes" category. The next poll will be released on May 2, at the conclusion of the regular season, and the poll that decides who's in and who's out will be released following conference tournaments on May 10.

Opening Round Hosts: The NAIA announced 10 teams Wednesday that have been awarded hosting rights, and therefore automatic bids, for its Opening Round on May 15-17. The hosts were determined based on current rankings, geographical considerations and bids submitted in March, and SOU was not included; the lowest-ranked host will be No. 14 Vanguard (Calif.). The other hosts will be No. 1 Oklahoma City, No. 3 Columbia (Mo.), No. 5 Georgia Gwinnett, No. 6 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.), No. 7 William Carey (Miss.), No. 8 Davenport (Mich.), No. 9 Campbellsville (Ky.), No. 10 Morningside (Iowa) and No. 11 LSU Alexandria (La.).

Last year, SOU was sent to Lindsey Wilson as a No. 3 seed in the four-team double-elimination tournament. The 10 winners of the Opening Rounds will advance to the NAIA World Series, which begins May 26 in Sioux City, Iowa.

Short Hops:
– SOU's team batting average is up to .338. If the season ended today, that would match the 2004 team's clip for the highest in the modern era of SOU softball. The Raiders' team average has improved five years in a row – from .257, to .262, to .307, to last year's .319. Their team on-base percentage of .400 is also up .031 points compared to 2016.
– After some heroics at OIT, the Raiders are now 8-7 when tied or trailing headed into the sixth inning. Last year, they were 4-14.
– With home runs in six consecutive games, Harlee Donovan has 10 home runs and is one away from matching SOU's single-season record, established in 2006 by Tanisha Burch. She's also up to 45 RBI, which puts her at No. 3 on the SOU single-season list and six away from tying the Raider record.
– Of the 21 freshman pitchers in the NAIA with 10 or more wins this season, SOU is one of two teams to feature two of them in Karlee Coughlin (11-0) and Gabby Sandoval (12-5). Coughlin is the only one in that group without a loss.
– Victoria Mackey (4-0) picked up career win No. 20 last week at Oregon Tech along with her second save of the season. She still hasn't allowed an earned run in 30 innings this year and 37 1/3 straight dating back to last season. And though she's worked exclusively in relief, nine of her 11 appearances have resulted in two-plus innings of work.
– Kelsey Randall ranks second in the CCC with a .443 average and Taylor Martinez is seventh at .414. The only time two Raiders have batted .400 in the same season was 2009, when Meghan Laughlin hit .463 and Strohm Fouty hit .458. Spurred atop the lineup by Randall – whose hitting streak ended at a school-record 23 games last week – SOU has outscored opponents 45-17 in the first inning.

About Carroll:
– In just their third year of existence as a program, the Saints rely on youth: 15 of their 22 players are underclassmen. They've gone 4-8 against the top half of the CCC but are 7-3 this year at home.
– Anna ApRoberts, a freshman product of Portland's Sunset High, lead the team in CCC play with a .349 average, 11 runs scored, 12 RBI and six doubles.
– Their aces in the circle are Allison Williams (5-2, 2.98 ERA) and Tess Eaton (4-3, 3.35). They've combined for 91 2/3 innings and are allowing opponents to hit .230.
– SOU won the first-ever meetings between the teams last year in Helena, 4-2 and 5-3.