ASHLAND – The No. 3-ranked Eastern Oregon softball team brought its big bats out to opening day at Laurel Park, ripping 20 hits while winning 6-4 and 16-7 against No. 1 Southern Oregon in the first Cascade Conference doubleheader for both teams on Friday afternoon.
Third baseman Lexi Grumbois launched a first-inning, two-run home run and scored three times in Game 1 for the Mountaineers. Center fielder Kelly Monaghan stole the show in Game 2, going 3-for-5 with four RBIs, three runs scored and an exclamation point of a three-run homer in the seventh.
The Mountaineers improved to 11-1 overall, clinching the CCC portion of a series that concludes Saturday with a third conference counter at 11 a.m. followed by a non-conference affair. The Raiders, who'd won 30 of their last 31 home CCC series, fell to 14-6.
After Grumbois started the opener with her homer, the Mountaineers upped their lead to 5-0 with three in a fourth inning capped by Raygun Klippert's two-run single.
The Raiders rallied with
Lexi Ramirez's RBI single in the fourth and
Brooke Nordahl's two-run double to the wall in the fifth, eventually cutting the deficit to 5-4 and chasing EOU starter Maliyah Mann with
Avery Coffin's two-out hit through the infield. Hannah Ebner came on to get a two-inning save for the Mountaineers, dodging a couple bullets when
Vanessa Lang and Nordahl just missed game-tying home runs in the sixth.
In Game 2, the Mountaineers batted around and scored seven in the third inning to take a 10-4 lead. In addition to Monaghan's big game, Klippert went 2-for-3 with a pair of walks, three RBIs and three runs. Emily Barry, Allison Baumgart and Grumbois added two hits apiece.
Nordahl finished the afternoon with three hits, two doubles and four RBIs for the Raiders. Lang was 3-for-6 with a double, two walks and two runs scored, Ramirez went 3-for-4, and
Elysia Duarte had three hits and three runs in the twin bill.
Camille Schmitz earned the Game 2 decision for EOU. Natalie Dimitrov started in the circle and later returned, totaling 5 1/3 innings pitched and allowing four runs.