WILSONVILLE – The No. 4-ranked Southern Oregon softball team stretched its winning streak to seven games and clinched another Cascade Conference series by blowing past Warner Pacific, 7-2 in seven innings and 11-0 in six, on Friday at Wilsonville High School.
Cayla Williams, the reigning CCC Player of the Week, was the catalyst again with another scorching afternoon. The senior improved to 16-4 in the circle with a four-hit complete game in the opener, and at the plate she ripped six hits with a home run and two doubles in the doubleheader.
Katie Machado followed her in the circle with a Game 2 shutout in which she recorded a career-high 13 strikeouts. The three-hitter made her 15-2 on the season.
The Raiders brought their record to 33-7 overall and 20-4 in the circuit, maintaining their second-place standing with six CCC contests left to play. They're a game up on third-place College of Idaho and own the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Yotes.
Riley Donovan's RBI single and a pair of unearned runs had the Raiders clinging to a 3-2 lead in Game 1 before their lead got comfortable in the seventh inning.
Ashton Cathey started a four-run rally with a run-scoring double,
Sammie Pemberton continued it with an RBI single, and
Sarah Kerling ended it with a two-run home run – the sophomore's first of the season.
SOU blew open Game 2 with a seven-run sixth inning that triggered the mercy rule. In support of Machado's gem, Williams went 4-for-4 with a solo home run and
Hannah Clavelle hit a two-run shot. Kerling,
Rylan Austin,
Piper Love and
Faith Moultrie had two hits apiece, Donovan added two sacrifice flies and
Lindsey Stripling scored twice.
Seven of the Raiders' 15 hits in the contest went for extra bases.
Williams extended her hitting streak to 10 games. She's recorded multiple hits in nine of them and four hits in three of them. Of her five home runs on the season, four have come in SOU's last five games.
The Knights dropped to 4-29 overall and 4-22 in the CCC.
SOU and WPU will play two more Saturday at Rosemont Middle School in West Linn. First pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m.
