ASHLAND – Oregon Tech needed extra innings to win the Cascade Conference Softball Championships presented by U.S. Bank, but its first tournament title celebration since 2012 was worth the wait.
The 17th-ranked Owls, seeded No. 3, took advantage of another Sarah Abramson gem and a costly error to defeat 15th-ranked College of Idaho 1-0 in eight innings Sunday at University Field and complete an unbeaten three-day, four-game run. The win gave the Owls (42-8) an automatic berth in the NAIA Softball Championships, which they haven’t missed since 2013.
After Yotes starter Hannah McNerney held the OIT to one hit through the first seven frames, Jensen Becker led off the bottom of the eighth with a bouncer through middle. McKenna Armantrout bunted her into scoring position, and with one out Yotes first baseman Lacie Miller fielded Kaila Mick's grounder, stepped on the bag, turned and made a throw to third attempting to cut down Becker. It went wide, allowing Becker to bounce to her feet and stroll home without a play.
Abramson's fourth win of the tournament was a six-hit complete game with seven strikeouts and one walk. She worked around a few errors and escaped trouble late, stranding two runners in both the seventh and eighth innings.
Over 27 innings in the tourney, Abramson surrendered just two earned runs and compiled three shutouts. She bumped her record to 23-5 by no-hitting Warner Pacific, becoming the first pitcher this season to blank top-ranked Southern Oregon, and defeating C of I twice.
Although a play gone wrong by the Yotes defense decided the game, two outstanding ones briefly extended it. With two Owls on and no outs in the bottom of the seventh, third baseman Trystin Crofts ran into the fence in foul ground while managing to hold on to Maggie Buckholz's popped-up bunt attempt. And with two outs, Olivia Lethlean's line drive that looked destined for the gap in left-center was caught on a full-extension dive by center fielder Hattie Hruza.
The Yotes (38-16), the No. 2 seed in the tournament and No. 15 team in the NAIA rankings, will hope for an at-large bid when the 40-team field is announced Tuesday.
Their case figures to be strengthened by the win that got them to the championship round, a 6-2 decision over top-ranked Southern Oregon.
After losing at home for the first time in 44 games Saturday against Oregon Tech, the Raiders (46-5) dropped another to the Yotes that ended their hopes of a fourth consecutive CCC Tournament title.
Kaily Christensen delivered two clutch hits for the C of I – an RBI double in a three-run third inning and a two-run single in the sixth that extended their lead to 5-2. Kylie Smith added two more RBIs with a single in the third, where the Yotes knocked out SOU starter Gabby Sandoval.
Katelyn Wilfert picked up the win, yielding six hits and two runs in five innings. McNerney worked two scoreless frames in relief for the save.
The Yotes defense also came up big, turning double plays on All-Americans Lauren Quirke and Allie Stines to stifle rallies. In the top of the fourth, leading 3-2, Micha Fortune ended the inning with a diving catch on Katrina Winterburn's liner to left that prevented the tying run from scoring.