Owls take CCC rubber match from SOU in extras

4/14/2018 4:54:00 PM

SOU Sports Information

ASHLAND – The Cascade Conference title race will come down to the final two weeks of the regular season, and No. 22 Oregon Tech Owls is still in it after taking two of three counters from No. 9 Southern Oregon at University Field.

On Saturday, the Owls won the rubber match of the CCC portion of the series, 3-2 in eight innings, thanks to Tara Moates' game-winning hit and pitcher Loryn Williams' second defeat of the Raiders in as many days. SOU salvaged an overall series split by winning Game 2, 5-4, on the strength of a five-run first inning and Karlee Coughlin's strong relief outing.

The Raiders went to 34-11 overall and 16-5 in the circuit, falling percentage points behind Corban (26-9, 15-4) for first place. They maintain a slim lead in the standings over Eastern Oregon (19-12, 13-5) and Oregon Tech (27-11, 15-6) going into their last two series, next weekend against Carroll (Mont.) and the following weekend at EOU.

Williams (7-1) and SOU ace Gabby Sandoval (16-5) dueled in Game 1, both allowing just one earned run. Their scoreless stalemate was broken up in the bottom of the fifth, when Raider first baseman Tayler Walker led off with a double to the gap and was driven home by left fielder Avery Morehead-Hutsell, whose liner ricocheted off the third-base bag with two outs.

The Owls took a 2-1 lead in the sixth: Sahalie Doe set it up with a one-out hit, moved over on a bunt and scored on a Moates single to left; and Allie Graham's two-out grounder to third was mishandled, which allowed Moates' pinch-runner, McKenna Armantrout, to come home. The Raiders, tied it in the bottom of the inning, however, thanks to more defensive miscues. The Owls committed two errors on Hannah Shimek's leadoff grounder, enabling her to reach second, and Karlee Coughlin singled her in with two outs.

The fourth unearned run in the late innings decided it. Doe led off the extra frame with a shot down the left-field line, which went into and popped out of Morehead-Hutsell's glove, and Moates' third hit of the game made it 3-2.

Williams survived 7 1/3 innings, allowing seven hits without a strikeout or a walk. Sarah Abramson saved it to make Sandoval a tough-luck loser. She yielded five hits in her 12th complete game.

In Game 2, SOU scored all of its runs in the bottom of the first and OIT did all of its damage in the top of the second. The first four Raiders to bat reached with hits: Kelsey Randall and Shimek singled, and Harlee Donovan and Rebecca Velasquez went for back-to-back run-scoring doubles. Hannah Wessel's double to the center-field fence drove in the fourth and fifth runs.

Randall went 3-for-4 in the contest. Moates, McKenna Armantrout, Cierra Barkis, Kiahna Brown and Rachael Delamare had two hits each for the Owls, who stranded 10 baserunners. Delamare's second home run of the season, a two-run shot to right-center, highlighted their fruitful second inning.

Coughlin (5-3) handled 3 1/3 innings in relief, working around six hits, and Sandoval pitched the last 1 2/3 for her fourth save. She entered with two on and one out in the sixth, and got Moates on a lineout to end the threat.