FRIDAY'S RESULTS
Game 1 – (4) Corban 2, (5) Eastern Oregon 1
Game 2 – (3) Oregon Tech 3, (6) Warner Pacific 0
Game 3 – (1) Southern Oregon 4, (4) Corban 1
Game 4 – (3) Oregon Tech 7, (2) College of Idaho 3

SATURDAY'S GAMES
Game 5 @ 9 a.m. – Corban vs. Warner Pacific (loser eliminated)
Game 6 @ 11:30 a.m. – College of Idaho vs. Eastern Oregon (loser eliminated)
Game 7 @ 2 p.m. – Southern Oregon vs. Oregon Tech
Game 8 @ 4:30 p.m. – Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 6 (loser eliminated)

SUNDAY'S GAMES
Game 9 @ 11 a.m. – Loser of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 8 (loser eliminated)
Game 10 @ 1:30 p.m. – Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 9 (championship)
Game 11 – Thirty minutes after completion of Game 10 (if necessary)

ASHLAND – It was only a matter of time, as usual, before the top-ranked Southern Oregon softball team broke out Friday against Corban. But in the first game of postseason, the wait felt unusually long.

A week after putting the Warriors away with the eight-run mercy rule in four straight games, the Raiders needed a tiebreaking, three-run sixth inning to shrug off a slow start to the Cascade Conference Championships presented by U.S. Bank and win 4-1 Friday at University Field.

With a heavy dose of off-speed junk, Corban starter Lauren Besse had the NAIA's top-scoring lineup on the ropes until Avery Morehead-Hutsell hammered an RBI triple to the right-field fence that gave the Raiders a 2-1 lead. Allie Stines then squeeze-bunted Morehead-Hutsell in, and two batters later CCC Player of the Year Lauren Quirke found a gap for her second RBI double of the day.

"I thought we did well battling in a close game and making adjustments at the plate later on," SOU coach Jessica Pistole said. "Now that we're in the tournament, none of these are going to be easy."

The Raiders went to 46-3 overall and advanced in the double-elimination tournament to play 17th-ranked and third-seeded Oregon Tech at 2 p.m. Saturday. The Owls won twice on Day 1, defeating Warner Pacific and second-seeded College of Idaho.

Senior ace Gabby Sandoval turned in another complete game to improve to 26-1. She struck out eight and allowed just two hits – both in the fifth inning, where Ivey Uppinghouse hit a game-tying double before Sandoval escaped a bases-loaded jam by getting All-CCC center fielder Makiah Johnson to fly out to the warning track.

Sandoval settled back in over the last two innings, retiring the last six Warriors she saw in order and striking out the side in the seventh.

"Gabby had to work hard and responded well to a battle," Pistole said, "and I though our defense was strong behind her."

For the 24th time this season, the Raiders didn't commit an error.

Two CCC Gold Glove winners also creeped within one hit of becoming the third and fourth players in team history with 200 career hits: Stines, who went 1-for-3 with a run scored, and Olivia Mackey, who had another of the Raiders' eight hits.

Dating back to 2017, the Raiders have won 10 consecutive CCC Tournament games.