ASHLAND – Third-ranked Southern Oregon's roll continued with 5-1 and 10-0 wins against Northwest Christian on Friday at University Field, as
Lauren Quirke made waves at the plate and in the circle to make the Raiders 10-1 in the Cascade Conference.
SOU (23-4 overall) got a routinely commanding performance in the opener from junior
Gabby Sandoval, who struck out 10 and surrendered only an unearned run in a three-hit complete game. She improved to 15-1 and 9-0 in CCC action – it was the sixth time in seven conference starts that she didn't allow an earned run – and got ample support from Quirke, who laced a two-run triple to put the Raiders on the board in the third inning and launched a solo home run, her second of the season, to the opposite field in the fifth.
The Raiders scored their other runs on a
Tayler Walker squeeze bunt and
Hannah Shimek's sixth-inning single. They were limited to seven hits and four earned runs against NCU pitcher Emma Jegtvig before getting loose for 14 hits, including five for extra bases, in Game 2. It ended after 4 ½ innings with the eight-run rule in effect.
As Quirke threw four shutout innings, giving up one hit with six strikeouts and no walks to improve to 4-1, her teammates picked up the slack at the plate. Shimek went 3-for-3 with two triples, four RBI and two runs and Walker went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles, an RBI and a run scored.
Both struck for extra bases in SOU's five-run first inning, during which Quirke helped herself with an RBI single.
Allie Stines led it off with her second double of the day and later lined a run-scoring single to help put the Raiders up 10-0 in the third.
Rebecca Velaquez added a pair of hits and
Avery Morehead-Hutsell scored twice.
Quirke's start was her sharpest of the season. It came on a day when she extended her hitting streak to 11 games and brought her league-best batting average to .479. She also matched Stines' team-high of 27 RBI.
Morgan Jones finished off Game 2 with a perfect fifth inning.
The teams will conclude their series with a doubleheader starting at 11 a.m. Saturday.
