VANCOUVER, B.C. – Southern Oregon jumped back into first place with a doubleheader sweep of British Columbia at Collings Field and some help around the Cascade Conference on Friday afternoon.
The top-ranked Raiders (36-4 overall, 18-2 CCC) defeated the Thunderbirds (13-14, 8-10) by scores of 4-0 and 7-1 on the strength of more dominant pitching.
Ayla Davies completed a five-hitter in the first game;
Kennedy Kila and
Katie Fodge combined to hold the Thunderbirds to four hits in the second.
With seven CCC counters remaining for both teams, the Raiders and Eastern Oregon are now tied atop the standings and two games ahead of third-place Oregon Tech. EOU – which hosts SOU in the final series of the regular season – entered Friday's action in sole possession of first place before splitting with Carroll (Mont.).
Davies' Game 1 shutout gave her 13 during her freshman campaign, two shy of the SOU single-season record, and made her record 21-2. She recorded seven strikeouts without conceding a walk or an extra-base hit.
Senior shortstop
Sammie Pemberton went 2-for-4 and supplied the go-ahead blow in the first inning, a two-out, two-run double to the left-center field gap that brought home
Sarah Kerling and
Ari Williams. Pemberton later scored on
Hailey Seva's two-run single in the sixth.
Seva tallied two more RBIs in Game 2 with a single at the end of SOU's six-run second inning, which was aided by two UBC errors.
The Raiders played error-free defense behind Kila and Fodge. The former earned the decision, going 4 1/3 innings while allowing three hits and one run to improve to 5-1. The latter shut out UBC over the final 2 2/3, yielding just one hit.
Kila also had an RBI double at the plate and scored a run. Kerling went 3-for-4 with two runs scored, extending her hitting streak to nine games.
The three-hit game was Kerling's fourth of the season. She leads SOU with a .496 batting average and has gone 17-for-26 during her streak.
The Raiders and Thunderbirds conclude the series with another twin bill starting at 11 a.m. Saturday.
