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Photo courtesy of Corban Athletics.
4
Winner Southern Oregon SOU 40-12
1
Corban University CRB 40-11
Winner
Southern Oregon SOU
40-12
4
Final
1
Corban University CRB
40-11
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Southern Oregon SOU 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 4 10 1
Corban University CRB 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 6 5

W: Coughlin, Karlee (15-1) L: BOYD, Sabrina (21-4)

Game Recap: Softball | | SOU Sports Information

Raiders top Corban again to secure first CCC Tournament title

SALEM – Southern Oregon may not have come into the Cascade Collegiate Conference Tournament as the favorite, but the Raiders left feeling like a team to reckon with going forward after conquering the three-day, six-team event in convincing fashion at Warrior Field.

For the second time in as many afternoons Monday, the second-seeded and 20th-ranked Raiders took down the regular-season champion Corban Warriors, 4-1, to secure their first tournament championship. They earned the CCC's second automatic bid to the 40-team NAIA Opening Round, set for May 15-17, and will learn their destination on Wednesday.

By sweeping through the tourney, they also matched the school record for wins at 40-12.

They did it by grinding out at-bats, defeating CCC Pitcher of the Year Sabrina Boyd – who entered the postseason with a record of 19-2 and a miniscule ERA of 1.61 – for the second day in a row. Harlee Donovan, Aaliyah Oliver and Kayleen Smith each had two hits, and Smith's RBI double in the first gave the Raiders a lead they never gave back.

They did it with superb pitching from their freshmen, in particular Karlee Coughlin, who brought her record to 15-1 with a six-hit complete game in which she struck out two and walked two. She allowed one earned run in 14 innings for the tournament, also shutting out Oregon Tech on Friday before outdueling Boyd.

And they did it with a near flawless defense, which, for the third straight day, didn't commit and error and assisted Coughlin in stranding nine Corban baserunners.

"They were ready to go from day one of this tourney," SOU head coach Jessica Pistole said. "We could all feel it and just believed we were better. They trusted each other, played with really good energy, and had a mentality that if it wasn't them getting it done, it'd be the person standing next to them."

After Smith put them up in the first – a scenario put in motion when leadoff batter Kelsey Randall reached on an error – the Raiders tacked on in the third, which Donovan led off with a double. Tyler Burke then reached on a throwing error and Donovan scored on another one, making it 2-0.

Corban got one back in the fourth on Paige Martin's sacrifice fly, but the Raiders answered right back in the top of the fifth. With Smith on second, Taylor Martinez launched her third RBI double of the tournament, and back-to-back singles for Paige Leeper and Coughlin brought Martinez home.

Coughlin then shut down the Warriors with a runner on second in the fifth, the bases loaded in the sixth and again in the seventh after the leadoff batter reached.

Corban (40-12), which eliminated Oregon Tech earlier in the day, would have needed to defeat SOU twice to capture the title after taking its first loss against the Raiders on Sunday, 6-5 in nine innings.

Prior to Monday, SOU had never appeared in the championship game.

The top-seeded host has failed to win the tournament five years in a row.

Last year, it was the Raiders. They didn't exactly enter this postseason with momentum either after suffering their most lopsided defeat of the season at home in a four-game split last weekend with fourth-place Eastern Oregon. Additionally, they had to wrestle with an early-April sweep at the hands of Corban in the back of their minds.

In three quick days, their doubts subsided.

"I think this was our best week and I hope we keep riding this," Pistole said. "I don't think anything changes. We're very talented but it's a matter of finding that flow and leaving it all out there together. Right now, we're in a good place."
 
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