NAIA OPENING ROUND – SOUTHERN OREGON BRACKET
Monday's Results:
Game 1 – (2) Grand View (Iowa) 1, (3) Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 0
Game 2 – (1) Southern Oregon 6, (4) Taylor (Ind.) 5
Tuesday's Results:
Game 3 – Grand View 2, Southern Oregon 1
Game 4 – Embry-Riddle 4, Taylor 2 (Taylor eliminated
Game 5 – Southern Oregon 4, Embry-Riddle 1 (ERAU eliminated)
Wednesday's Results:
Game 6 – Southern Oregon 8, Grand View 0 (5 inn.)
Game 7 – Grand View 5, Southern Oregon 1 (SOU eliminated)

MEDFORD – Grand View (Iowa) ended Southern Oregon's quest for a third consecutive national title, claiming the winner-take-all finale of the NAIA Softball Championship Opening Round in a 5-1 decision Wednesday afternoon at Lithia & Driveway Fields.

The Raiders, ranked No. 8 nationally and seeded No. 1 in the Southern Oregon Bracket, finished the season at 49-14 with the fourth-highest win total in team history, but were stopped short of the NAIA World Series for the first time since 2016.

They forced the decisive final game by defeating the 10th-ranked and No. 2-seeded Vikings (45-10) 8-0 in Wednesday's first game behind Phelicity Fa'aita, who pitched a one-hit, five-inning shutout and connected for a two-run home run in the first inning. The Raiders peppered GVU ace Hannah Pals, who no-hit them on Tuesday, for seven hits and six runs in 3 2/3 innings. Cayla Williams went 2-for-3 with an RBI, Piper Love was 2-for-3 and scored twice, and Sarah Kerling drove in three runs.

Pals got her revenge in Game 2, blanking SOU over the final four innings of relief to earn the decision. Courtney Kopischke and Alyx Witt handled the first three frames for the Vikings in the circle.

Riley Donovan got the Raiders going in the finale with a solo homer to center field in the first inning, her NAIA-leading 20th of the season. The floodgates opened for GVU in the third, where they took the lead by plating four runs – three unearned – with the help of two Raider errors. They had four hits in the inning, including Abby Sutten's game-tying single up the middle and Witt's go-ahead double.

A double play quelled the Raiders' best shot at a rally in the third inning, where they had two on with no outs after Deja Acosta's single and Donovan's walk. Williams followed with a liner that looked bound for the outfield, but Sutten leaped to snag it at second base and flipped to shortstop Julia Bastian to pick off Acosta.

SOU had seven hits and left seven on base. Acosta reached base six times on the day with three hits and three walks. Fa'aita and Austin contributed two hits apiece in Game 2.

For the first time since 2006, the Vikings advanced to the 10-team final site in Columbus, Ga. The tournament begins May 26.

The Raiders, who had to replace eight senior all-stars following last season, will lose just one heading into 2023: two-time national champion Erika Marquez.