SHAWNEE, Okla. – Last year's NAIA SB Invitational put Ayla Davies under the national spotlight, and on the first day of this year's showcase, Southern Oregon's star sophomore pitcher commanded it again.
Davies was one out away from a perfect game before completing a one-hit shutout as the top-ranked Raiders opened Friday's action with a 5-0 win against Benedictine (Kan.). She earned her second win of the day by providing 2 1/3 scoreless innings of relief work in a 13-8 defeat of No. 16 Missouri Baptist that saw SOU score six unanswered runs in the sixth and seventh innings.
The Raiders improved to 11-3 and Davies bumped her record to 6-2, bouncing back from Thursday's loss to No. 2 Oklahoma City. Including last season, Davies has made seven Invitational appearances and posted a 0.94 ERA over 37 1/3 innings.
Third baseman Brooke Nordahl and center fielder Ari Williams shined at the plate, both going 4-for-6 on the day. Nordahl doubled, tripled, drove in four runs and scored three, and Williams hit a pair of doubles with five runs and two RBIs.
Davies struck out six against Benedictine (4-3). After retiring the first 20 batters she faced, she walked the 21st and then surrendered a single up the middle. Lexi Ramirez went 2-for-3 in the contest and hit a two-run single up the middle in the fourth inning. Nordahl hit an RBI triple in the fifth, while Williams and Avery Coffin added RBIs.
The Raiders then built a 7-3 advantage against Missouri Baptist (5-4), but a fifth-inning error cost them five unearned runs and the lead. They trailed 8-7 with two MBU runners on base when Davies entered in the bottom of the fifth and got them out of trouble.
Williams hit a run-scoring double that tied the game in the top of the sixth. The next batter, Elysia Duarte, brought her home with a sacrifice fly. SOU tacked on four more in the seventh as Nordahl and Glory Pistole stroked RBI singles and Vanessa Lang lifted a sac fly of her own.
Nordahl, Williams and Avery Coffin had three hits apiece in the contest, helping SOU to a total of 15. Duarte and Lang both supplied three hits on the day.
The Raiders play two more on Saturday, at 10:30 a.m. PT against Baker (Kan.) and 3 p.m. against No. 8 Central Methodist (Mo.). They wrap the trip on Sunday with a doubleheader at No. 9 Science & Arts (Okla.).