Coughlin, Leeper lift Raiders over SDCC after loss to Vanguard
SOU Sports Information
WEST COVINA, Calif. – Southern Oregon began its three-day, six-game stint at the NAIA SoCal Classic with a 7-0 loss to No. 17 Vanguard (Calif.) and a 10-0 win over San Diego Christian (Calif.) on Friday at the Big League Dreams complex.
The third-ranked Raiders went to 4-2 with the split. In opener, they were five-hit by Vanguard sophomore Vanessa Dwyer and got in immediate trouble as Samantha Shaffer launched a grand slam with nobody out in the top of the first. The Lions went on to win their eighth straight to start the season.
Sophomore pitcher
Karlee Coughlin righted the Raiders' ship in their second game. Along with delivering two RBI singles, including one that put them ahead in the first, she surrendered just two hits and went all five innings of the mercy-rule-shortened contest, improving to 2-0 in the circle. She struck one, didn't issue a walk and didn't let a SDCC runner get past first base until a fifth-inning error.
Coughlin got a boost from sophomore third-baseman
Paige Leeper, who hit her first career home run in the second inning – a two-run shot to left that plated
Davalin Ontiveros – and added a run-scoring double in the third.
Ontiveros went 2-for-3 with two RBI,
Hannah Wessel went 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI triple, and
Kelsey Randall doubled and walked twice.
Hannah Shimek and
Olivia Mackey had RBI doubles of their own.
SDCC dropped to 2-4 with the loss.
Wessel and
Harlee Donovan had two hits apiece in the opener. Wessel has recorded a team-high eight hits through the first six games.
On Saturday, the Raiders will play Hope International (Calif.) at 2 p.m. and La Sierra (Calif.) at 6 p.m.