HONOLULU, Hawaii – The No. 4-ranked Southern Oregon softball team started its tropical getaway with back-to-back wins over Chaminade (Hawaii), 6-0 and 4-3 on Sunday afternoon at Silversword Field.
The Raiders (4-0 overall) completed the sweep by erasing a 3-1 deficit in Game 2 with a three-run fifth inning, where
Kailer Fulton stroked a game-tying RBI double and
Piper Love drove her in with a two-out, go-ahead infield single.
Freshman pitcher
Ayla Davies pitched six scoreless innings to earn the Game 1 win and improve to 2-0. She struck out five, gave up six hits and issued one walk during the start. The Burns product also picked up her second save in Game 2 – a six-out effort in which she inherited two baserunners with no outs in the sixth inning before retiring three straight Silverswords to preserve the one-run lead.
Fulton led the Raiders with four hits on the day, going 3-for-4 with a pair of stolen bases and a run scored in the opener. SOU plated three in the second inning as
Hailey Seva drove a run-scoring triple,
Sarah Kerling brought her home with an infield single, and Kerling scored on a first-and-third steal play that resulted in an error.
Kerling and
Piper Love had two hits and an RBI apiece in the contest, and
Sammie Pemberton went 1-for-3 with a walk and a run scored. In the circle,
Mayze Menefee came on for Davies to toss a perfect seventh inning.
Brooke Nordahl recorded two of her three hits in the finale, where
Vanessa Lang and
Faith Moultrie also had two apiece.
The Raiders got on the board with Moultrie's RBI single in the first inning. They were down 3-1 by the end of the fourth, however, after a couple Larchelle Tuifao run-scoring hits.
Nordahl and Kerling reached base to start the decisive fifth, setting up Lang for an RBI single. Fulton and Love's contributions followed.
Davies was the fourth Raider to enter the circle in Game 2. Starter Kila Kennedy went two innings,
Katie Fodge went two more and allowed one run to earn the decision, and
Tatiana Blas lasted one-plus before Davies erased the two runners she was left with.
The Raiders played error-free defense all day. They've committed one error in four games this season.
The Silverswords, members of the NCAA Division II Pac West Conference, dipped to 1-12.
SOU is in action again Monday, facing Hawaii Pacific in a twin bill that begins at 3 p.m. Pacific Time.
