BRACKET | TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
COLUMBUS, Ga. – No. 7 seed Jessup (Calif.) put No. 10 Southern Oregon's backs against the wall early at the NAIA World Series by thwarting a late rally to win 5-4 in the first game of the tournament Thursday morning at the South Commons Softball Complex.
The Raiders (40-18) loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh while trailing by two but left the potential tying run standing 60 feet away. The loss sent them to the consolation bracket, where they'll need seven consecutive victories to win their fourth championship in five years. That road begins at 10 a.m. PDT Friday against the loser of Thursday's late game between No. 3 Central Methodist (Mo.) and No. 6 Science & Arts (Okla.).
The Warriors (40-10), champions of the Golden State Athletic Conference, got all the offense they needed out of two loud swings. With two on and two out in the first inning, Maddy Ybarra pulled Katie Machado's full-count offering just over the fence in left-center field. And with two on and two out in the second, Maddy Ybarra cleared the bases with a double off the base of the fence in center.
Machado (25-6) was tagged for five earned runs for the first time since facing Jessup on the opening day of the season, though she settled in to limit the Warriors to two hits the rest of the way.
The Raiders had a handful of chances to strike back against Jessup starter Katie Blankeheim with a boost from a Warriors defense that gifted them three unearned runs. They went 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
Hailey Seva drove in their first run in the second with a groundout that scored Kami Klapp, who pinch-ran for Jordan Henderson after she reached on an error. Their second run, plated in the fifth, came in as Neva Adams dropped Sarah Kerling's routine fly ball in left field. Two batters later, Kailer Fulton lined a single up the middle to cut Jessup's advantage to 5-3.
That was the score in the seventh when pinch-hitter Kennedy Kila led off with a blooper into right. Kerling and Faith Moultrie followed with back-to-back infield singles. With the bases packed, Lorge fielded pinch-hitter Emma Stang's sharp grounder to third base cleanly and started a 5-2-3 double play, a throwing error at the end of the sequence leading to SOU's final run. Hannah Clavelle came up representing the Raiders' last chance with a runner on third; Blankenheim got her to ground out to shortstop.
Blankenheim (16-5) surrendered eight hits. She had to work through those and three errors behind her but didn't issue a walk, finishing the Raiders off in 77 pitches.
The Raiders are 10-1 in World Series elimination games since 2018, which was the only other year they dropped their tournament opener.
Jessup, at the final site for the first time in team history, moved on to play No. 2 seed Oklahoma City at 1 p.m. PDT Friday.