12 p.m. / 2 p.m. Friday – British Columbia at SOU
11 a.m. / 1 p.m. Saturday – British Columbia at SOU
LIVE STREAMS | LIVE STATS

ASHLAND – The Southern Oregon softball team's identity-building efforts are off to an encouraging start with a 10-3 record over the first three weeks of the season. The Raiders' first Cascade Conference opponent, British Columbia, remains a mystery.

The No. 5-ranked Raiders and Thunderbirds open a four-game series at University Field at noon Friday, starting their doubleheader an hour earlier than originally scheduled to accommodate the CCC Tournament women's basketball semifinals. UBC (0-2) – picked to finish eighth in the CCC based solely on historical intel – has only played two games in the last two years due to border restrictions last spring and cancelations more recently.

FAN POLICY: Fans planning to attend are subject to SOU's vaccination policy, which requires proof of full vaccination against Covid-19 or a negative test taken no more than 48 hours prior to entry. Photo ID must be presented for verification.

NAIA TOP 25: The first NAIA coaches' poll of the regular season is set for a March 9 release. The Raiders were No. 5 in the preseason poll and haven't sat outside the top-five since 2018. They scored a résumé-building sweep of No. 17 Hope International (Calif.) last week, defeating the Royals 6-3 and 14-2 on their home field. Top-ranked Oregon Tech is off to an 11-3 start and has won nine straight since dropping three of its first five games. College of Idaho, ranked No. 2, is 10-2 and likewise working on a nine-game winning streak entering conference play.

SOU CONFERENCE HISTORY: The Raiders captured four of the last five CCC regular season titles under head coach Jessica Pistole; they hadn't won the title before that stretch since 2005. Last year they went 26-1, becoming the first team ever to get through the conference slate with fewer than two losses. They've won 12 consecutive CCC series overall and 22 of their last 23 dating back to 2018.

BRIEFLY:

• The Raiders have won 40 consecutive regular season home games. They swept their only home series so far this season against Simpson (Calif.), 3-2 and 9-1.
• NAIA All-American catcher Riley Donovan is off to another hot start, reaching base safely in all 13 games. She leads the team with nine extra-base hits and is batting .409 with a .490 on-base percentage.
• Donovan, Deja Acosta and Ashton Cathey have hit two home runs apiece. The last time more than one Raider hit multiple home runs before the start of conference play was 2015.
• Among SOU's newcomers, Acosta has added the most significant pop to the lineup with a .391 average, 15 runs scored and nine stolen bases on 10 attempts from the leadoff spot. The second baseman went 9-for-16 with 10 runs scored on SOU's five-game road trip last week.
• Katie Machado has made a strong case for SOU's No. 1 pitching spot, posting a 1.56 ERA over 36 innings. She's 5-0 with four complete games in six starts and has held opponents scoreless with six or more innings pitched in three of them. Mayze Menefee (1.78 ERA) and Cayla Williams (1.31 ERA) have also made positive contributions to a team ERA of 2.57.
• The Raider pitching staff's strikeout-to-walk ratio is 3-to-1, comparing favorably to the 3.1-to-1 mark turned in by last year's dominant staff.
• Jessica Pistole is 16 wins away from 300 in her Raider career and owns a .757 win percentage. Including her time at Biola (Calif.), William Jessup (Calif.) and University of San Diego (Calif.), she's up to 406 career wins as a head coach.
• The Raiders are outscoring opponents 32-1 in fourth and fifth innings combined. They're outscoring opponents 50-37 in all other innings.