HELENA, Mont. – With three games to spare, the No. 1-ranked Southern Oregon University softball team claimed the Cascade Conference regular-season title outright Saturday with a five-inning, 10-0 win over Carroll (Mont.) that capped a sweep of the CCC portion of their series at Centennial Park.
The Saints took the non-conference finale, 6-5, with three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning and Kaitlynn Ayers' walk-off, two-run double.
They ended SOU's winning streak at 16 games, and pitcher
Gabby Sandoval's consecutive-decisions-won streak at 36, but the promise of another banner made that trivia moot.
The Raiders (41-3 overall, 23-1 CCC) are the first CCC team to win three consecutive regular-season championships since they did it from 2003-05. This particular run has been their most dominant: through 24 games, they've outscored their opponents by a combined margin of 220-39.
Game 1 was the 11th of those 23 wins to end with the application of the eight-run mercy rule.
Hannah Shimek went 4-for-4 with a double, two stolen bases, three runs scored and three RBIs, and she lined a two-run single as part of SOU's five-run third inning.
Sandoval earned her 22nd win in the clincher with her 10th shutout of the season, a three-hitter with two strikeouts and two walks. Her streak of consecutive CCC decisions won is active at 23; she's 16-0 this season in such games with a 1.15 ERA.
Lauren Quirke and
Allie Stines drove in two runs apiece, and
Avery Morehead-Hutsell and
Katrina Winterburn both added two hits.
In Game 2, RBI doubles from Stines,
Riley Donovan and
Jordan Henderson got the Raiders out to a 4-0 lead, and Winterburn's run-scoring single made it 5-0 in the fifth.
The Saints (13-28, 7-17) got three runs back in the bottom of the fifth. That prompted Sandoval to replace Quirke, and she retired the side in order in the sixth before Carroll loaded the bases with no outs on a single and two walks in the seventh.
After Amber Brewer's sacrifice fly pulled the Saints within a run, Ayers' one-out double ended it.
Just two of Quirke's runs were earned in her five innings of work. At the plate, she finished the series 12-for-17 with 11 RBIs and eight runs scored after smacking five extra-base hits Friday.
Stines ended the series 9-for-13 with eight runs and six RBIs.
The Raiders will conclude the regular season at home next Friday and Saturday against Corban. Then it's on to the CCC Tournament, which will take place May 7-9 in Ashland.
