CORVALLIS, Ore. – The 2022 Cascade Collegiate Conference Championship Tournament, presented by U.S. Bank concludes Sunday in Klamath Falls, Ore.
Top-seeded and No. 4-ranked Oregon Tech has secured its spot in the championship game, while two other teams have to play their win in. Third-seeded and No. 15-ranked Eastern Oregon University and fourth-seeded and No. 20-ranked College of Idaho face each other in the morning at 11 a.m. to see who will challenge the Owls for the championship.
The Owls only had to play once each day after taking care of business. OIT opened the tournament with a 4-0 victory over C of I and followed with a 6-5 walk-off win over the Mounties on Saturday. A solo shot from Lexi Klum in the bottom of the eighth sent the Owls into the finale to defend their 2021 crown.
EOU opened the tournament with an 8-1 win over Corban University and then upset second-seeded and No. 8-ranked Southern Oregon University 3-1. The Mounties couldn’t hold off the Owls the first time the two teams met in the tournament, but still have a life left.
The Coyotes have been clawing since the first day, beating UBC 6-5 to open the tournament before falling to the Owls that same day. With their backs against the wall, the Yotes eliminated Corban University 12-8 in the first game Saturday and took out UBC 9-1 later that afternoon. If C of I hopes to win the tournament, it will once again need to dig deep for two games.
The winner between EOU and C of I will face OIT at 1:30 p.m. If the Owls drop that game, a second game will play 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game. Since the Owls secured one of the CCC's automatic bids to the NAIA Opening Round with the regular-season championship, the second bid will go to whoever joins OIT in the tournament championship.