Raiders Sweep Owls in NAIA Top 10 Battle

ASHLAND Ore. -  No. 3 Southern Oregon (19-4 7-1 CCC) used great pitching and timely hitting to sweep a key Cascade Conference doubleheader from No. 9 Oregon Tech (18-8, 6-2 CCC) 3-0 in game one and 5-4 in 9-innings in game two at University Field.
 
Game 1 Southern Oregon 3 Oregon Tech 0 
 
Game one featured a pitcher's duel between Oregon Tech's Ali Graham and Gabby Sandoval of SOU. Sandoval threw her sixth shutout of the season and Hannah Wessel broke a scoreless tie with her first career home run, a solo shot in the fifth inning, to lead the Raiders to a 3-0 win over the Owls.
                       
Sandoval's three-hitter in the opener marked the fourth time in five conference starts that she hasn't yielded an earned run. She struck out five and walked two, and after surrendering back-to-back singles to lead off the bottom of the fourth, she retired the final 12 Owls she faced in order.
 
Game 2 Southern Oregon 5 Oregon Tech 4 (9-innings) 
 
Tayler Walker and Tiana Brown blasted solo homers in the second and fourth innings to help SOU to a 3-2 lead. That was the score with two outs in the seventh inning, when Tech's Andrea Sotelo lined a double to the gap in right-center that chased Shayna Ige home from first base and forced extra innings.
 
OIT starter Sarah Abramson (7-4), who totaled 172 pitches in 8 2/3 frames, gave up a leadoff single to Morehead-Hutsell in the ninth and a one-out single to Hannah Shimek. They advanced to second and third on Lauren Quirke's deep flyout to left, and Leeper's infield hit to shortstop brought in Morehead-Hutsell for the go-ahead run. The next batter, Brown, made it 5-3 by dropping a single into left.
 
Sandoval got out of trouble in the bottom of the ninth after a bunt single and a pair of walks loaded the bases with two outs. Cierra Barkis's single to third base cut the lead to one, but Sandoval induced a McKenna Armantrout groundout to escape the jam.
 
The Raiders' two-through-five hitters – Shimek, Quirke, Leeper and Brown – had two hits apiece. Walker, whose homer was her second of the season, was on base three times with a pair of walks. Brown's homer was the first of her career.
 
Sotelo went 3-for-4 with a walk, a double and two RBI to lead the Owls with Graham going 2-for-5 with a double, an RBI and a run scored.
The Team will conclude the 4-game series with a doubleheader on Sunday at University Field with the first pitch scheduled for 11:00 am

---

Next Game

Southern Oregon University
3/17/19 | 11:00 AM