Raiders hammer Mountaineers in home openers
SOU Sports Information
ASHLAND – An afternoon at University Field was all Southern Oregon needed to get its offense rolling Friday, as the No. 1-ranked Raiders debuted at home by beating Eastern Oregon 9-1 in six innings and 12-0 in five in a Cascade Conference doubleheader.
Abbie Lewis, a junior transfer from William Jessup, made a sharp first impression with five hits, four runs scored and four RBIs on the day from the top of the order. She went 3-for-4 while scoring three runs and driving home a pair in Game 1, and junior first baseman Tayler Walker powered SOU in Game 2 with a two-run home run becoming the 10th player in team history to hit 10 career homers – and an RBI triple.
In improving to 17-3 overall and 5-0 in the CCC, the Raiders extended their home winning streak to 25 games dating back to last season. The Mountaineers dipped to 3-13 and 2-3 going into the series finales Saturday, which will start with another CCC counter at 11 a.m. followed by a nonleague contest.
SOU ace Gabby Sandoval went to 10-0 by allowing three hits and one run over five innings in the opener. She struck out seven without a walk before Hannah Stark came on to finish the job.
The Raiders were aided by five Mountaineers errors, which helped them score two in the first and three more in the third. Hannah Shimek went 2-for-2 with an RBI double and two runs scored, Lauren Quirke drove in two and Avery Morehead-Hutsell contributed an RBI triple and a run.
Taylor Dow knocked in EOU's lone run with a sacrifice fly.
In Game 2, the Raiders poured it on with six runs in the six and six more in the second and totaled 15 hits in the game.
Walker's third home run of the season – a two-run rope over the fence in left-center field – was bookended by two-run singles from Lauren Quirke and Morehead-Hutsell in the opening frame. Lewis, Walker, Paige Leeper and Lauren Weinberg added RBI hits in the second.
Quirke also tossed four dominant, shutout innings to secure her third win, striking out four with one walk while yielding three hits. Hannah Lilly took the fifth and struck out two Mountaineers in her perfect frame.
Leeper and Olivia Mackey finished with two hits apiece.