NAIA CHAMPIONSHIPS OPENING ROUND
Indianapolis, Ind. | All times Pacific
Monday's Games
Game 1 | (5) Rio Grande (Ohio) 5, (4) Aquinas (Mich.) 2
Game 2 | (2) Southern Oregon 1, (3) Middle Georgia State 0
Tuesday's Game
Game 3 | (1) Marian (Ind.) 6, Rio Grande 5
Wednesday's Games
Game 4 |  Aquinas 4, Middle Georgia State 1 (MGSU eliminated)
Game 5 | Southern Oregon 6, Marian 1
Thursday's Games
Game 6 | Aquinas 8, Rio Grande 0 (5 inn.) (URG eliminated)
Game 7 | 8:30 a.m. – Marian 1, Aquinas 0 (9 inn.) (Aquinas eliminated)
Game 8 | 10:30 a.m. – Southern Oregon vs. Marian (championship round)
Game 9 | If necessary, 30 minutes after conclusion of Game 8
(Rolling start times expected for Thursday)

INDIANAPOLIS – Like clockwork, another NAIA World Series trip is in Southern Oregon's sights after the Raiders seized control of the Indianapolis Bracket on Wednesday at Marian Softball Diamond.

Junior catcher Piper Love went 3-for-4, hit a tiebreaking double in the sixth inning and caught three runners stealing, leading the Raiders to a 6-1 victory over top-seeded Marian (Ind.) and leaving them one win away from their sixth Opening Round title in seven years.

SOU (39-17 overall), the No. 2 seed in the double-elimination bracket, gets two chances to secure that win on Thursday. Aquinas (Mich.) plays Rio Grande (Ohio) in the first elimination game at 6 a.m. PDT, Marian (Ind.) plays the winner of that matchup in another at 8:30 a.m., and the Raiders get whoever is left standing at approximately 10:30 a.m. in the final round.

Love's defense was critical in helping pitcher Katie Machado stymie Marian (45-11), which was No. 8 in the final NAIA Top 25 poll and entered the game with the third-highest runs-per-game average in the country. Machado, who shut out Middle Georgia State in SOU's tourney opener on Monday, again went the distance against the Knights with a four-hitter.

She settled in following a high-stress first inning, where she walked the bases loaded before escaping untouched. The Knights scored their only run on a first-and-third steal play that broke a scoreless tie in the fourth. Later, Love threw out attempted base-stealers during a tie game in the fifth and while protecting a one-run lead in the sixth.

Leadoff hitter Faith Moultrie helped the Raiders break through against All-American pitcher Olivia Stunkel in the top of the fifth. After bouncing a one-out single through the middle, she stole second base and took third when the throw down got away. On Kailer Fulton's ensuing groundout, Moultrie dashed for home and slid around the tag to tie the score.

Love then came through with her bat in the sixth, lining Stunkel's two-out offering to the opposite field over Abby Madere's head in right to bring home Sammie Pemberton for the go-ahead run.

The Raiders added ample insurance in the seventh. Hannah Clavelle's RBI double to the wall started the surge. Pemberton, who went 2-for-4, and Love followed with run-scoring singles.

SOU has won 10 consecutive national tournament games dating back to last season. Only two of them have been decided by fewer than four runs.

Machado improved to 24-5, tossing her 25th complete game of the season. Stunkel, who dropped to 26-3, had not lost a decision since April 9.

If the Raiders drop their first game on Thursday, they'll play the second approximately 30 minutes after its conclusion. They've never lost back-to-back games in the national tournament since head coach Jessica Pistole took them to their first in 2016.