The Raiders' first win of the day marked the 100th victory of Coach Kim Fritts' career
Raiders Sweep Eagles in Softball Doubleheader
BOX SCORE - GAME ONE
BOX SCORE - GAME TWO
ASHLAND – Southern Oregon used one big inning in each game to claim a Cascade Collegiate Conference softball doubleheader sweep over Northwest on Friday, defeating the Eagles 9-2 and 6-3 on a sunny afternoon at University Field.
Southern Oregon improves to 9-10 overall and 5-1 in conference play with the wins, while Northwest falls to 2-16 overall and 0-6 in the CCC. Both teams return to action Saturday, with SOU hosting Concordia and Northwest taking on No. 9 Oregon Tech in Klamath Falls at 11 a.m.
The Raiders’ first win of the day was the 100th of coach Kim Fritts’ career. The SOU head coach became the second coach in program history to reach triple figures, and is now eight behind Larry Binney’s school record of 109 victories.
Jessica Flores led the way with four hits for the Raiders, while Sierra Anderson and Irene Barrantes each finished the day with three hits. Hannah Ganfield led Northwest with three hits.
Karlie Stephens claimed the win for the Raiders in the opener, limiting Northwest to one earned run on five hits with seven strikeouts in the complete game. Kelli Peckham took the loss.
The Raiders scored one run in the bottom of the second to take the early lead, as Julia Willison doubled and scored on a Northwest error. The Eagles picked up a pair of runs in the top of the third, as Ganfield led off with a home run and Brittany Bovard singled and came in to score on an SOU error.
Southern Oregon took advantage of another Eagle error to score seven unearned runs in the bottom of the third. Stephanie Vandenbusch hit a bases-loaded triple, and the next four batters also reached base safely. Anderson and Barrantes both singled and scored on a double by Flores, who crossed home plate following a single by Lauren Keel. The Raiders added one more run in the sixth as Flores singled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Kara Kelsey.
A five-run second inning helped the Raiders claim a victory in the second contest as the teams combined for nine errors in the game. Chelsea Talbert pitched 5.1 innings with five strikeouts and no earned runs allowed to earn the win, with Sydney White getting the final five outs to pick up the save. Vanessa Ahrendt took a complete-game loss for Northwest.
Northwest scored its first run in the top of the second to take a brief lead, but SOU took advantage of five NU errors and three wild pitches to score five runs in the bottom of the inning. The Eagles used a similar formula to score a pair of runs in the top of the fifth, using two errors and a hit batsman to score without a single base hit in the inning.
Southern Oregon picked up its final run on four hits in the bottom of the sixth. Anderson, Barrantes, Willison and Flores all singled to make it 6-3, with the Raiders stranding a pair at the end of the frame.