BELLEVUE, Wash. – With two weeks to go in the regular season, the fourth-ranked Southern Oregon softball team is knocking on the door of another Cascade Conference championship after hitting up Northwest (Wash.) for two more wins Saturday, 9-0 in five innings and 8-1 at Bellevue College.
Tiana Brown,
Lauren Quirke and
Hannah Wessel each homered as the Raiders (36-5 overall, 20-1 CCC) trimmed their magic number for a title to four – running their CCC winning streak to 19 in the opener and completing the four-game series sweep in the non-conference finale.
Junior pitcher
Gabby Sandoval turned in another routine shutout in Game 1, needing only 67 pitches to complete a five-inning two-hitter with seven strikeouts and a walk. She improved to 24-2 overall and 18-0 in conference action – dropping an already-microscopic ERA to 1.11 – and freshman
Jordyn Ragan followed with her sharpest outing of the season, improving to 4-0 with 5 2/3 innings of one-hit work in which she struck out four and the only run on her line was unearned.
The offense got to work early with three runs in the first inning of the opener, when Brown and
Hannah Shimek ripped RBI singles. They piled on six more in a third inning that was highlighted by Wessel's two-run home run, her third of the season.
Allie Stines went 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI, Brown drove in two runs and scored another, and Quirke doubled with two runs scored.
Shimek's two-run double opened the scoring in the third inning of Game 2. Quirke contributed another RBI double in the fifth – her 14th of the season – and launched her fourth home run in the seventh. Later in the same inning, Brown hit a two-run shot to left field for her second home run.
Paige Leeper added an RBI double,
Olivia Mackey went 2-for-3 with two runs scored, and
Allie Stines became the first Raider ever to hit 20 doubles in a season.
Morgan Jones finished off Game 2 by retiring four Eagles (10-26, 5-16) in order and recording a pair of strikeouts.
SOU returns to University Field next Friday and Saturday to play Providence (Mont.) in its final home series.
