Box Score Monday's Results
Game 1 – (3) Hope International (Calif.) 1, (2) Morningside (Iowa) 0
Game 2 – (1) Southern Oregon 7, (4) Saint Katherine (Calif.) 0

Tuesday's Results
Game 3 – Southern Oregon 5, Hope International 0
Game 4 – Morningside 5, Saint Katherine 4 (USK eliminated)
Game 5 – Hope International 3, Morningside 2 (MC eliminated)

Wednesday's Games
Game 6 – Southern Oregon vs. Hope International, 11 a.m. (championship)
Game 7 – If necessary, 1:30 p.m.

MEDFORD – On paper, Southern Oregon's matchup against star Hope International pitcher Allie Puente looked like trouble given the lineup's recent funk. In practice, it more closely resembled a turning point.

The top-ranked Raiders moved within one win of a return trip to the NAIA World Series, defeating Puente and the No. 11 Royals 5-0 in their second game of the Opening Round Southern Oregon Bracket on Tuesday at US Cellular Community Park.

To reserve a spot at the 10-team final site in Columbus, Georgia, they'll have to do it again. The Royals (30-10) followed up the loss with a 3-2 win over No. 13 Morningside (Iowa) in an elimination game, earning the right to take another shot at SOU at 11 a.m. Wednesday in the championship round. Because the Raiders are the only team in the double-elimination bracket without a loss, they'll get two chances to advance if needed.

The Raiders (48-5) opened the tournament Monday by topping Saint Katherine (Calif.) 7-0, though all seven of their runs were unearned. They'd only plated two of the earned variety in their last three outings combined, and Puente was coming off a one-hit, 12-strikeout performance against Morningside that lowered her ERA to 0.65.

Puente didn't strike out anyone in her four innings against SOU, and Tayler Walker made her pay in the third. Allie Stines laced a double with one out in the inning, and with two gone Lauren Quirke and Riley Donovan worked long at-bats for walks to load the bases. Walker cleared them on a 1-0 count, splitting the gap in left-center with a liner that bounced to the fence and gave the Raiders a 3-0 lead.

SOU got to Puente for four hits and four walks. Olivia Mackey added another double, and she and Katrina Winterburn both had two hits and a run scored.

"Today's game felt different than yesterday for sure," SOU head coach Jessica Pistole said. "To have a consistent mentality from start to finish was a breath of fresh air and we really had a belief in what we were doing before we stepped foot on the field. We spent the week trying to get into that space and I think this felt like a good step in that right direction."

SOU's starter, Gabby Sandoval, pitched her second shutout in as many days. She had just one strikeout and one walk in a four-hitter as the Raiders played perfect defense behind her. The Royals didn't get past second base all afternoon.

The shutout was Sandoval's 13th of 2021 and third of the postseason. It made her 28-3.

"I think Gabby is getting a little stronger each game," Pistole said. "She came out with a strong mentality, and she had good composure and made adjustments she needed to with a tighter strike zone."

The Raiders tacked on two runs in the sixth, when Allie Stines executed a squeeze bunt and Hannah Shimek hit an RBI single.

They also needed to defeat Hope International twice in the 2019 Opening Round to reach their third World Series.

Other top seeds around the NAIA have had worse luck. Oklahoma City and Science & Arts (Okla.), the Nos. 2 and 3 teams in the NAIA coaches' poll, were among seven top seeds eliminated Tuesday. In 2019, all 10 top seeds won their Opening Round brackets.