Cascade Conference Softball | Laurel Park | Ashland, Ore.
BRITISH COLUMBIA (12-6, 3-0 CCC) at No. 1 SOU (19-7, 3-3 CCC)
2 p.m. / 4 p.m. Friday | 11 a.m. / 1 p.m. Saturday
Tickets | Live Streams | Live Stats: G1 / G2 / G3 / G4

ASHLAND – The No. 1-ranked Southern Oregon University softball team returns to Laurel Park this weekend at 19-7 overall and 3-3 in the Cascade Conference. Given the fact that no team in the last decade has won a CCC regular season championship with more than five circuit losses, it isn't too early for the Raiders to recognize the urgency of building on their winning streak.

One of the top pitchers in the NAIA, British Columbia's Carleen Murray, stands in their way. The Thunderbirds (12-6, 3-0 CCC) visit SOU for doubleheaders starting at 2 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday in what will be the teams' first matchups since UBC knocked the Raiders out of last year's CCC Tournament.

LAST WEEK IN REVIEW: The Raiders took the last three in a four-game series at College of Idaho during the second week of CCC action. They dropped the opener, 3-2, after C of I catcher Hallie Campbell hit a three-run home run with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, but their bats came alive with 28 hits over the next three matchups. Vanessa Lang went 7-for-15 with four runs scored during the series, and Ari Williams closed it out with back-to-back three-hit efforts – including a go-ahead, extra-inning home run in Game 3. In the circle, Lexi Ramirez was 2-0 with four earned runs allowed over 12 innings, tossing a six-hitter in Game 2, and Tatiana Blas went five innings to earn the decision in the non-conference finale.

IN THE RANKINGS: SOU held on to the No. 1 spot in last week's first NAIA Top 25 of the regular season, collecting 11 of 19 first-place votes. Eastern Oregon and Oregon Tech were also among the six teams that earned a first-place vote, landing at Nos. 2 and 4, respectively. College of Idaho received Top 25 votes, as did British Columbia. The next poll will be released March 18.

SHORT HOPS:

• Vanessa Lang enters the weekend with an active 15-game hitting streak, a team-best .419 batting average, and team-highs of eight doubles and 20 runs scored. During her streak, the senior second baseman has gone 24-for-53 (.452) and played error-free defense. She is four hits away from 100 in her two seasons with the Raiders.
• At the top of the order, redshirt-freshman outfielder Kalea Thomas is batting .341 and getting on base at a .429 clip with a team-high 14 walks. She has reached base safely in 12 of her last 13 games and accounted for 15 of SOU's 37 stolen bases.
• SOU's slugging leaders are Brooke Nordahl (2 HR, 3 3B, 4 2B) and Elysia Duarte (2 HR, 6 2B). Nordahl has driven in runs in 15 different games, totaling 21 RBIs.
• Opponents have committed 44 errors compared to SOU's 26, and the Raiders have surrendered just 16 unearned runs to opponents' 39.
• Ayla Davies (9-4, 2.57 ERA) and Lexi Ramirez (7-2, 3.13 ERA) are delivering a solid one-two punch in the circle, having accounted for 152 2/3 of SOU's 175 innings pitched. They've recorded 118 combined strikeouts compared to 44 walks. Davies has 78 strikeouts – the sophomore is 10 away from becoming the third Raider to reach 400 in a career – and batters are hitting just .223 against her.

ABOUT UBC:

• Carleen Murray made the All-CCC first team a year ago and has been even better in 2026 with a record of 8-2 and a microscopic 0.64 ERA. She has registered 87 strikeouts and issued seven walks, throwing four shutouts already. She hasn't allowed an earned run in her last seven appearances, a streak that spans 31 2/3 innings. She was out for the SOU-UBC regular season series last year and allowed two runs in two innings against the Raiders in the CCC Tournament.
• The Thunderbirds are coming off a 27-20 season in which they posted a 16-11 conference record and made their first-ever NAIA Tournament appearance. They were picked to finish fourth in this year's CCC preseason poll.
• They're batting .289 as a team and getting on base at nearly as high a clip (.383) as SOU. Their best bats belong to Jessia Heutink (.375, 4 XBH, 16 RBI) and Jillian Matsubara (.347, 7 XBH, 14 RBI). Against the two Top 25 teams they faced, however, the Thunderbirds generated two runs in 15 innings.