ASHAND – Following a mercy-rule victory in Game 1, Southern Oregon had to scrape together three two-out runs in the sixth inning of Game 2 to complete a sweep of Warner Pacific on the Cascade Conference's opening day Friday at University Field.
Freshman pitcher
Ayla Davies threw yet another shutout in the 8-0, five-inning opener, notching a season-high 11 strikeouts to complete a one-hitter. The No. 4-ranked Raiders (13-1 overall, 2-0 CCC) won 4-2 in Game 2 but trailed 2-1 entering what turned out to be their last at-bat.
Sammie Pemberton's double to the gap set the stage for
Brooke Nordahl's two-out, game-tying double to the wall before
Sarah Kerling and
Vanessa Lang delivered back-to-back RBI singles.
Mayze Menefee earned the second decision in the circle by allowing just two runs while striking out seven in six innings. Davies worked a perfect seventh with two more strikeouts to collect her fourth save.
Davies, the freshman right-hander from Burns, gave up a single to the second Knight she faced in her start before retiring the next 14 in a row. She improved to 9-1, lowered her ERA to 0.71, and has now allowed two or fewer hits while going five-plus scoreless innings five times this season.
SOU's lineup gave her a three-run cushion by the end of the first inning, where it strung together five hits, then scored two more in the third and three in the fifth.
Kennedy Kila went 2-for-2 with two RBIs,
Vanessa Lang had two hits and a run, and
Ari Williams reached twice with two runs and an RBI.
The offense stalled out against WPU starter Briana Munoz in Game 2, and the Knights took a 2-1 lead on Kili Makanani's sacrifice fly in the third inning.
It held until the sixth, when Pemberton – who went 2-for-3 – was doubled in by Nordahl for the second time in the game. Nordahl scored the go-ahead run when the next batter, Kerling, poked a ball through the middle of the infield.
The Raiders clinched their 27th consecutive CCC home series win dating back to 2018. The Knights fell to 1-7.
The teams play two more starting at 11 a.m. Saturday, the second being a non-conference counter.
