ASHLAND – In the first Cascade Conference doubleheader Southern Oregon has ever played with a top-10 NAIA ranking against another top-10 team, the No. 3 Raiders solidified their standing on Saturday at University Field.
With No. 9 Oregon Tech in town for a series that was originally scheduled to be played in Klamath Falls,
Gabby Sandoval's sixth shutout, backed by
Hannah Wessel's first career home run, made the Raiders 3-0 winners in Game 1. They worked extras in Game 2 for a 5-4 victory, as
Paige Leeper and
Tiana Brown hit back-to-back two-out RBI singles in the ninth and Sandoval upped her record to 13-1 with 5 1/3 innings one relief.
The Raiders (19-4 overall, 7-1 CCC) entered the day a game back of the Owls (18-8, 6-2), who fell out a first-place tie with 14th-ranked Corban. The teams will play the final CCC game of the series at 11 a.m. Sunday with a non-conference counter to follow.
Sandoval's three-hitter in the opener marked the fourth time in five conference starts that she hasn't yielded an earned run. She struck out five and walked two, and after surrendering back-to-back singles to lead off the bottom of the fourth, she retired the final 12 Owls she faced in order.
Wessel gave her a 1-0 lead in the top of the fifth by digging out a low Ali Graham delivery and sending a towering shot over the fence in left-center field. The Raiders cashed in on two errors in the seventh to plate two more, getting a run-scoring double from Avery-Morehead Hutsell and an
Allie Stines RBI groundout.
Graham (7-4) was charged with one earned run and six hits in 6 1/3 innings.
In Game 2,
Tayler Walker and
Tiana Brown blasted solo homers in the second and fourth innings to help SOU to a 3-2 lead. That was the score with two outs in the seventh inning, when Andrea Sotelo lined a double to the gap in right-center that chased Shayna Ige home from first base and forced extra innings.
OIT starter Sarah Abramson (7-4), who totaled 172 pitches in 8 2/3 frames, gave up a leadoff single to Morehead-Hutsell in the ninth and a one-out single to
Hannah Shimek. They advanced to second and third on
Lauren Quirke's deep flyout to left, and Leeper's infield hit to shortstop brought in Morehead-Hutsell for the go-ahead run. The next batter, Brown, made it 5-3 by dropping a single into left.
Sandoval got out of trouble in the bottom of the ninth after a bunt single and a pair of walks loaded the bases with two outs. Cierra Barkis's single to third base cut the lead to one, but Sandoval induced a McKenna Armantrout groundout to escape the jam.
The Raiders' two-through-five hitters – Shimek, Quirke, Leeper and Brown – had two hits apiece. Walker, whose homer was her second of the season, was on base three times with a pair of walks. Brown's homer was the first of her career.
Sotelo went 3-for-4 with a walk and two RBI. Graham was 2-for-5 with a double, an RBI and a run scored.
