SALEM – The Southern Oregon softball team's threat to run away with another Cascade Conference championship became more pronounced Friday with two more critical victories over 10th-ranked Corban, 9-4 in the series opener and 5-4 in a nine-inning affair at Warrior Field.
The third-ranked Raiders hammered out the first win with
Lauren Quirke's third home run and two-run doubles from
Hannah Shimek and
Allie Stines. They backed an atypically pedestrian start for
Gabby Sandoval, who still got the win with a complete game before sharpening up in Game 2 with four innings of two-hit, scoreless relief. Her record went to 18-1 thanks to a two-out throwing error in the ninth on Shimek's grounder to third base that enabled
Taelor Mayben to score the deciding run.
The Raiders (27-4 overall, 13-1 CCC) have won 10 straight, making this their fourth double-digit streak in the last three seasons, and went to 4-0 in extra-inning games. They also claimed a two-game lead in first place ahead of both Corban (21-7, 11-3) and 13th-ranked Oregon Tech, who still have to play against each other next weekend.
Corban entered the day tied with the Raiders atop the standings but are now 0-4 against them ahead of Saturday's 11 a.m. doubleheader.
In the opener, SOU broke up a scoreless game in the third with Stines' double and Quirke's homer to make it 4-0. The Raiders also scored four in the sixth, when Shimek doubled and Stines and
Tayler Walker hit RBI singles.
Stines also got the Raiders going in Game 2, leading it off with her team-leading fifth home, and Quirke went 4-for-5 – her third four-hit game of the season.
Neither Quirke, who started in the circle, nor reliever
Morgan Jones allowed an earned run in five innings, but three errors helped put the Raiders in a 4-2 hole.
Olivia Mackey led off the top of the fifth with a single, and she and
Avery Morehead-Hutsell were in scoring position with no outs after a Corban error. Stines' sacrifice fly trimmed the deficit to 4-3 and Quirke tied it with a two-out double.
After Sandoval stranded Corban's potential winning run on third in the seventh and left another runner hanging in the eighth, Mayben set the table with a leadoff infield single in the top of the ninth. The next two Raiders – Mackey and Morehead-Hutsell – got on with bunts, but Corban nearly got out of the bases-loaded jam when Stines lined into a double play. Shimek came up next with the grounder to third, and the Warrior defense failed pitcher Ally Crakes.
Makiah Johnson went 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles, a run scored and two RBI for the Warriors.
Mackey and Morehead-Hutsell had two hits apiece on the day for SOU.
