CCC CHAMPIONSHIPS PRESENTED BY U.S. BANK
FRIDAY'S RESULTS
Game 1 – (4) Eastern Oregon 1, (5) British Columbia 0
Game 2 – (3) College of Idaho 4, (6) Carroll 0
Game 3 – (1) Oregon Tech 5, (4) Eastern Oregon 1
Game 4 – (3) College of Idaho 9, (2) Southern Oregon 1 (6 inn.)
SATURDAY'S RESULTS
Game 5 – Eastern Oregon 3, Carroll 2 (8 inn.) (Carroll eliminated)
Game 6 – Southern Oregon 8, British Columbia 5 (UBCeliminated)
Game 7 – College of Idaho 5, Oregon Tech 2
Game 8 – Southern Oregon 10, Eastern Oregon 4 (EOU eliminated)
SUNDAY'S GAMES
Game 9 @ 11 a.m. – Southern Oregon vs. Oregon Tech (loser eliminated)
Game 10 @ 1:30 p.m. – College of Idaho vs. Winner of Game 9 (championship)
Game 11 – Thirty minutes after completion of Game 10 (if necessary)

KLAMATH FALLS – The No. 4-ranked Southern Oregon softball team checked off two elimination games Saturday and has three more left to get for a title at the Cascade Conference Championships presented by U.S. Bank.

After dropping their tournament opener Friday to No. 6 College of Idaho, the Raiders responded by discarding British Columbia, 8-5, and No. 24 Eastern Oregon, 10-4, surviving a long day made even longer by a handful rain delays at Stilwell Stadium.

Their most daunting work is still ahead of them. They advanced to play at 11 a.m. Sunday against top-ranked Oregon Tech, which took its first loss of the weekend Saturday against C of I. The winner will move on to the 1:30 p.m. championship round against the Yotes and need to defeat them in back-to-back games.

The Raiders (42-10 overall), seeded No. 2 in the double-elimination tourney, slugged their way past No. 5 seed UBC (24-21) and No. 4 seed EOU (33-19), totaling 21 total hits with nine for extra bases on the day.

The Thunderbirds made them sweat, tying the early affair at 5-5 on Sarah Kempel's two-run single in the top of the sixth inning. Deja Acosta returned the lead to SOU in the bottom half with an RBI double to the wall following Lindsey Stripling's single. Cayla Williams – who went 4-for-4 with two doubles and four RBIs – tacked on a run-scoring hit three batters later, and Sammie Pemberton added another to expand the edge to three runs.

Williams also got the Raiders through the first 5 2/3 innings in the circle. She allowed five runs, but four SOU errors made all of them unearned. Katie Machado handled the final four outs to earn the win.

Machado also got the decision against EOU after giving up three runs in five innings and departing with a six-run lead. The junior struck out five and went to 18-2 on the season.

She got run support in bunches. Riley Donovan reached base in all five of her plate appearances and kicked the scoring off with a first-inning solo home run – her second of the tournament and 20th of the spring, matching the SOU single-season record she established last year.

Ashton Cathey opened up the lead with a three-run homer in the third inning, her sixth of the season. Donovan later lined an RBI double, Sarah Kerling and RBI triple, and Williams her fourth run-scoring hit of the day.

Holly Fletcher retired all six batters she faced to close out the victory.

SOU's matchup with Oregon Tech will be its fifth of the season. The Owls took the first four games, winning both ends of a doubleheader most recently on April 25 in Ashland.