Strohm Fouty had three hits against Willamette.
No. 8 Bearcats Sweep Raiders
ASHLAND, ORE - The 8th-ranked Willamette softball team took advantage of a poor Southern Oregon defensive effort in the opener and then exploded offensively in the nightcap to score a 3-1, 12-2 sweep of the Raiders today at University Field in Ashland.
Willamette, ranked eighth in the latest NCAA Division III poll, improved to 12-1 on the year. Southern Oregon dropped to 2-9 and will open Cascade Conference play Friday at home against Concordia. First pitch of the doubleheader is set for 2 p.m.
In the opener, Southern Oregon took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth. Senior Strohm Fouty singled to start the inning and senior Ricci Coultas moved her to second with a sacrifice bunt. Sophomore Meghan Laughlin then doubled to left field to give the Raiders the lead.
The lead stayed at 1-0 until the top of the sixth. In the top of the frame, Willamette tied the game and took the lead for good by scoring two runs on three SOU errors.
In the top of the seventh, the Bearcats went up 3-1 after scoring a run that was helped by two more SOU errors.
For the game, the Raiders had six errors.
Freshman pitcher Jordyn Kurtz was the hard luck loser for the Raiders in the opener. Kurtz limited the Bearcats to just four hits and struck out six. All three of Willamette’s runs were unearned.
Fouty, Laughlin, Kurtz, Kathryn Moy and Justine Cooper all had base hits in the opener.
In the second game, Willamette’s bats woke up.
Trailing 2-1, the Bearcats scored two runs on three hits in the top of the third to take a 3-2 lead. In the fourth, Suzannah Von Trapp homered and Nikki Franchi doubled to end Kurtz’ day on the mound. Susie Krewer then added a double off freshman Amy Seliger to give the Bearcats a 6-2 lead and Willamette went on to add six more in the fifth to end the game with the eight-run mercy rule.
Fouty had two of SOU’s three hits in the second game. Moy added an RBI single.