NAIA Championship Opening Round | Ashland Bracket
MONDAY'S RESULTS
G1 | (4) Dordt (Iowa) 2 vs. (5) Ottawa (Ariz.) 0
G2 | (2) Texas A&M-Texarkana 5, (3) Saint Francis (Ind.) 4
G3 | (1) Southern Oregon 3, vs. Dordt 1
TUESDAY'S RESULTS
G4 | Saint Francis 7, Ottawa 1 (Ottawa eliminated)
G5 | Southern Oregon 5, Texas A&M-Texarkana 2
G6 | Dordt 7, Saint Francis 5 (USF eliminated)
WEDNESDAY'S GAMES
G7 | 11 a.m. – Texas A&M-Texarkana vs. Dordt (loser eliminated)
G8 | 1:30 p.m. – Southern Oregon vs. G7 Winner (final round)
THURSDAY'S GAME
G9 | 11 a.m. – G8 Rematch (if necessary)
ASHLAND – Texas A&M-Texarkana couldn't slow down Southern Oregon in another business-as-usual NAIA Opening Round win Tuesday afternoon, 5-2 at Laurel Park.
The No. 6-ranked and top-seeded Raiders (43-13 overall) extended their winning streak to 14 games and need only one more to return to the World Series. They'll have two chances to get it in the final round of the double-elimination Ashland Bracket, the first at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday against Dordt (Iowa) or Texarkana. If necessary, a winner-take-all finale will be played at 11 a.m. Thursday.
Texarkana (38-15), the No. 2 seed in the bracket and No. 19 team in the final NAIA Top 25, was on the ropes early and never recovered as SOU sophomore
Ayla Davies won her 10th consecutive decision.
The top of the Raiders' lineup continued to deliver behind her, getting a 2-for-4, two-run performance from leadoff hitter
Kalea Thomas in her sixth consecutive multi-hit game of the postseason. She led off SOU's half of the first inning with a single and scored on
Brooke Nordahl's knock to left.
The Raiders made it 4-0 in the second, where No. 2 hitter
Vanessa Lang ripped an RBI single to center. With Lang and Thomas later in scoring position,
Lexi Ramirez snuck one up the middle to chase home both of them.
Thomas brought her hitting streak 14 games, a stretch in which she has batted .577 (30-for-52) with 18 runs scored. Lang has now hit safely in 14 of her last 15.
Kierstin Grotewiel supplied more cushioning in the fifth with an RBI double.
Meanwhile, the Raiders got more of the same from Davies. She struck out four and only one of the runs on her ledger was earned. Now 25-7 on the year, she has allowed one earned run in five consecutive postseason complete games. In her two-year career, she has allowed one or no earned runs in 14 of 20 postseason starts.
Including the Cascade Conference Tournament, the Raiders have trailed for only two of their 39 innings played in the playoffs. They'll have a chance to reach their eighth World Series in nine years on Wednesday.
Among CCC teams, they're not alone. The conference has yet to drop an Opening Round game, going a combined 10-0 between five teams. British Columbia, College of Idaho and Oregon Tech have reached their bracket finals, and Eastern Oregon won its opener before its game on Tuesday was postponed.
