ASHLAND – The NAIA's hottest rivalry and two highest-scoring teams didn't disappoint Wednesday in their first matchup since last year's national championship round.

Top-ranked Oregon Tech held on for an 8-7 win over No. 8 Southern Oregon in Game 1, but couldn't contain the Raiders as they rallied from a five-run deficit to take Game 2 11-7 in Cascade Conference play at University Field.

Phelicity Fa'aita and Cayla Williams carried SOU (23-7 overall, 8-3 CCC) offensively. They tallied two home runs and three extra-base hits apiece on the day, and both drove in three runs in the nightcap to bring the Raiders back and deal the Owls (27-5, 13-1) their first CCC loss.

Two league-best pitching staffs took a backseat throughout the split. Owls All-American Sarah Abramson earned her 16th win with a complete game in the opener despite surrendering three homers, including a three-run shot by Fa'aita – her second of the game – that trimmed OIT's lead to one run in the bottom of the seventh. Williams ultimately took her first loss of the season in the circle on the heels of a 49-inning stretch in which SOU's pitchers had allowed just one earned run.

In Game 2 the Raiders picked on Mckenzie Staub, who'd entered the day with a 10-1 record. Trailing 5-0 in the third, Williams got them on the board with a two-run homer. They stormed ahead with five runs in the third, three of which were unearned. An RBI double from Williams and an RBI triple from Fa'aita in back-to-back at-bats put them up 7-5.

OIT's Kennedy Jantzi cut the lead in half with a solo home run in the fifth, but the Raiders struck for four more runs in the sixth as Fa'aita and Rylan Austin stroked two-run singles.

Mayze Menefee got the win with one inning of relief work. Williams, after her Game 1 loss, bounced back to earn the save by holding the Owls to one run over the final three innings.

OIT came into the matchup sitting atop the NAIA runs leaderboard and fresh off a four-game sweep of then-No. 3-ranked College of Idaho. Leadoff hitter Kaila Mick scored four times in Game 1 as the Owls' two-through-six hitters all drove in runs. Jantzi had four RBIs on the day and Aubrie Businger had three.

Williams' home runs gave her four on the season, as did Fa'aita's. Lindsey Stripling added three hits in the doubleheader and Deja Acosta scored four runs for SOU.

The Raiders will play their next 10 games on the road, including another doubleheader against OIT on April 5. They'll be at Bushnell for a four-game series on Friday and Saturday.