Megan Malvick was one of three Cavaliers to hit solo home runs against OIT on Friday.
Battle of top-25 teams ends in second stalemate
HAPPY VALLEY, Ore.—With first place in the CCC standings on the line, No. 19ranked Oregon Tech and No. 25-ranked Concordia split for the second time in six days as the Owls captured a 4-3 win in the opener before CU stormed back with a 11-3 win in the afternoon contest played at Hood View Park on Friday.
With the results, Oregon Tech (30-10, 21-5 CCC) maintained its one-game lead over the Cavaliers with two games remaining.
Concordia (28-16, 20-6 CCC) will close out its regular season by hosting Southern Oregon (15-19, 14-12 CCC) at Sandy High School on Saturday. Opening pitch against the Raiders, who will be fighting for the fourth and final CCC Tournament spot.
Oregon Tech, meanwhile, will finish its regular season on the road at Northwest (2-30, 2-24 CCC).
Game 2 – Concordia 11, Oregon Tech 3 (5 innings)
Using three solo home runs in the second inning and a seven-run spree in the fifth, Concordia handed Oregon Tech its first inning-shortened loss in nearly two months as the Cavaliers defeated the Owls 11-3 in five innings to secure a Saturday split.
Taylor Bussey (Vancouver, Wash./Prairie H.S.) and
Kate Santos (Gladstone, Ore./Gladstone H.S.) got things started for the Cavs by leading off the second frame with back-to-back home runs. Two batters after Santos,
Megan Malvick (Milwaukie, Ore./Rex Putnam H.S.) lifted a ball over the right-field fence to give CU a 3-0 lead and chase OIT starter Jessi Duncan.
The Owls got one run back in the top of the third with a one-opt single by Shauna Collins turned into a score via a double by McKenzie Shrum.
Concordia got out of added trouble on a line-drive out by catcher Tori Weatherford that turned into an unusual 7-5 double play as
Rielly Byrd (Puyallup, Wash./Franklin Pierce H.S.)'s throw into the infield picked of an advancing Shrum.
Moving to the third, the Owls pulled to within a run with three singles in the inning, beginning with a dribbler to short by Tre Sullivan. Alyssa Davis followed with a soft grounder to first while Tasha Silvius came through with a two-out single to right to plate Sullivan.
Concordia managed to add an unearned run in the home half of the inning only to see OIT respond with a run of its own in the top of the fifth after a Weatherford shot to enter cleared the fence.
From there, it was all highlights for the Cavaliers as its first six batters reached safely in the bottom of the fifth. The Cavs sent nine batters to the plate with
Meghan Luebbert (Sandy, Ore./Sandy H.S.) providing the final blow, singling to right to score Byrd for the 11-8 win.
Lucy Baldovino (Medford, Ore./South Medford H.S.) earned the win after going 4.2 innings. With the game still in the balance,
Danielle Orvella (Seattle, Wash./Kentridge H.S.) recorded the final out in the top of the fifth to collect the save.
Game 2 – Oregon Tech 4, Concordia 3
Powered by three runs in the top of the third, Oregon Tech held on to a 4-3 win over Concordia in the opening game of a CCC doubleheader on Friday.
After Danielle Sayers opened the game with an infield single and McKenzie Shrum earned a trip to first after being hit by a pitch, three straight Owls collected RBI for the early lead. Tori Weatherford doubled to left for the opening score while Tre Sullivan grounded out to first base to plate Schrum. Alyssa Davis closed out the attack with a single through the middle to score Weatherford.
The Cavs generated single runs in the third and fourth innings with
Katie Aden (Tigard, Ore./Tigard H.S.) driving in
Meghan Luebbert (Sandy, Ore./Sandy H.S.) in the third and
Kate Santos (Gladstone, Ore./Gladstone H.S.) scoring on a wild pitch in the fourth after putting herself in scoring position with a triple to right. After Santos' score, the Cavs loaded the bases against OIT Cassidy Olson, but were denied additional runs with a popup to Danielle Sayers ending the inning.
The Owls made it a 4-2 affair in the fifth with a leadoff single and a stolen base by Collins setting up Sullivan for her second RBI of the game.
Concordia had multiple opportunists to create a rally, including loading the bases on three walk in the fifth, but stranded 12 runners in the game to fall short by a single run.
Taylor Bussey (Vancouver, Wash./Prairie H.S.) delivered the team's final score with a solo homer to left in the seventh.
With just one out following the Bussey blast, the Cavs placed the winning run on first on a Santos walk and a
Mariah Jimenez (Camas, Wash./Camas H.S.) single, but OIT reliever Carleton was up to the task, getting an innocent grounder to first and a strikeout to end the contest.
Carleton improved to 6-0 on the season after allowing just one run on four hits over the final four innings.
The two teams combined for 21 hits with the Cavs edging the Owls 11 to 10. Sullivan and Sayres each had two hits in the winning effort for OIT while Luebbert, Bussey and Jimenez all posted two-hit games for the Cavs.