The opening day of the CCC Softball Championships featured all four games that were decided by two runs or less, as The College of Idaho moved onto the championship game and Concordia was eliminated.
CCC Softball Championships - Day #1 Recap
BOX SCORES – GAME #1 | GAME #2 | GAME #3 | GAME #4
SALEM, Ore. – The College of Idaho won back-to-back games to move to the championship game of the 2013 Cascade Collegiate Conference Softball Championships played Thursday at Warrior Field on the campus of Corban University.
The Lady Yotes rode the pitching arm of Nickayla Skinner to a pair of complete game victories, as C of I will await the winner of Friday's elimination game between top-seeded Corban and No. 3 seed Oregon Tech at 11:00 a.m.
Concordia was the first team eliminated Thursday, as the No. 19-ranked Cavaliers suffered a pair of two-run losses to Oregon Tech and No. 8-ranked Corban.
GAME #1 — OREGON TECH 5, CONCORDIA 3 (BOX SCORE)
After Concordia built a two-run lead (3-1) in the bottom of the fourth inning thanks to a two-run home run by Cassidy Horner, Oregon Tech scored four unanswered runs in the top of the fifth and sixth innings highlighted by a two-run double to right center by Jess Plummer.
Taylor Schmidt went the distance for the Owls en route to picking up her team-leading 22nd win of the season, while Plummer and Melissa Logan provided two hits each for OIT.
Concordia would get six strong innings from Ashley Suter, while Kate Santos turned in a 2-for-3 effort offensively for the Cavaliers.
GAME #2 — COLLEGE OF IDAHO 2, CORBAN 1 (BOX SCORE)
The College of Idaho's Molly Mills would provide the game-winning hit via a leadoff home run in the top of the fifth inning to go along with a defensive effort by the Yotes that kept Corban from scoring the game-tying run with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Skinner went the distance for C of I en route picking up her 21st win of the year, while Mills, Alexis Macias, and Skinner each provided two hits for the Yotes.
Corban's Chelsea Schriber went the distance for the Warriors, while Brittney Chestnut added two hits and one RBI for the host team.
GAME #3 — COLLEGE OF IDAHO 3, OREGON TECH 1 (BOX SCORE)
In the third game of the day, The College of Idaho would ride the right arm of Skinner to a complete game victory as Mills, Kayla Webb, and Macias drove in runs for the Lady Yotes. Macias would drive in the eventual game-winning run via a single in the fifth inning, while Webb hit her second home run of the year to open the scoring in the third inning.
For the second straight game, Skinner went the distance to pick up her 22nd win of the season as Mills and McKensie Stanton provided two hits each for C of I.
Melissa Logan would provide the offensive firepower for Oregon Tech with her 11th home run of the season that hit the top of the center field fence and bounced over, while Rylee Carlton allowed two earned runs in 5.0 innings of work to suffer the loss for the Owls.
GAME #4 — CORBAN 9, CONCORDIA 7 (BOX SCORE)
In the final game of the day, Corban's Stephanie Nippert would single-handedly help lead the host Warriors to victory with a pair of home runs and seven runs batted in. Nippert belted career home runs No. 79 & 80 to take the lead in the NAIA's all-time career home run race, while Brittany Chestnut drove in Corban's other two runs via a double in the bottom of the sixth inning that turned out to be the game-winning runs.
Amy Greenough pitched the opening 5.0 innings for Corban before Schriber went the final 2.0 inning en route to picking up her 17th win of the season. Nippert was a perfect 2-for-2 to go along with hits by seven other Warriors.
Concordia would get a three-hit afternoon by Taylor Copher, while Laura Luther drove in three runs on her ninth home run of the year in the first inning. Ashley Suter went the opening 3.2 innings for the Cavaliers before Danielle Orvella close out the game for Concordia.
Tomorrow's schedule will feature Corban and Oregon Tech in an 11:00 a.m. elimination game followed by the championship game at 1:30 p.m. between The College of Idaho and the winner of Corban-Oregon Tech. If C of I is defeated in the game then the same two teams will play again beginning 30 minutes after the final out to decide the CCC's automatic berth to the NAIA National Championships Opening Round.
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