CALDWELL, Idaho – Some last at-bat breakthroughs saved Southern Oregon in back-to-back Cascade Conference wins against Carroll (Mont.) on Saturday night, 5-4 in eight innings and 13-5 in seven at Symms Field.
Allie Stines enabled the Raiders (16-3 overall, 4-1 CCC) to pull off the escape job in Game 1, making her fourth hit of the contest the game-winner in the top of the eighth inning after the Saints (5-10, 0-5) left the bases loaded in the bottom seventh. In Game 2, SOU broke a tie with eight runs in the seventh as
Hannah Shimek and
Katrina Winterburn stroked four hits apiece.
Gabby Sandoval collected both decisions to improve to 10-1. She hadn't conceded an earned run in 20 innings until, with SOU leading 2-0 in the fifth, Carroll's Amber Brewer lined a three-run double and Kendall Mooney chased her home with another double to give the Saints a 4-2 lead.
SOU knotted the score with two runs in the sixth, when Stines drove in the first run with a fielder's choice and
Lauren Quirke forced home the second with a bases-loaded walk. The Saints missed a golden opportunity to win the game in the seventh when Sandoval issued three consecutive walks with two outs. With nowhere to put Megan McCormick, Sandoval ran the count full before striking her out looking.
The table was set in the eighth by
Avery Morehead-Hutsell, who struck out to lead off the inning but reached first via a wild pitch on the third strike. She stole second base, and Stines – who hit her second leadoff homer of the season to start the game – drove her in with a single.
Seven of the Raiders' 17 hits in Game 2 went for extra bases: Shimek had three doubles,
Tiana Brown hit a double and a triple,
Olivia Mackey hit an inside-the-park home run and Winterburn added another double.
The first seven Raiders to bat in the seventh reached base, and
Hannah Wessel started the scoring with a two-run single that broke the 5-5 tie. Shimek later hit another two-run single, Brown hit a two-run double and Winterburn drove in her second run of the game with another single.
Carroll had tied the game in the sixth inning when Anna Aproberts hit a sacrifice fly and Brewer sent an RBI double to left.
The series, which moved to the neutral site from Helena, Mont., due to inclement weather, will conclude with a doubleheader starting at 10 a.m. Pacific Time on Sunday.
