OIT upsets SOU on Day 2 of CCC Championships presented by U.S. Bank
FRIDAY'S RESULTS
Game 1 – (4) Corban 2, (5) Eastern Oregon 1
Game 2 – (3) Oregon Tech 3, (6) Warner Pacific 0
Game 3 – (1) Southern Oregon 4, (4) Corban 1
Game 4 – (3) Oregon Tech 7, (2) College of Idaho 3
SATURDAY'S RESULTS
Game 5 – Warner Pacific 4, Corban 2 (Corban eliminated)
Game 6 – College of Idaho 4, Eastern Oregon 0 (EOU eliminated)
Game 7 – Oregon Tech 5, Southern Oregon 0
Game 8 – College of Idaho 8, Warner Pacific 4 (WPUeliminated)
SUNDAY'S GAMES
Game 9 @ 11 a.m. – Southern Oregon vs. College of Idaho (loser eliminated)
Game 10 @ 1:30 p.m. – Oregon Tech vs. Winner of Game 9 (championship)
Game 11 – Thirty minutes after completion of Game 10 (if necessary)
ASHLAND – Through two days of the Cascade Conference Softball Championships presented by U.S. Bank, No. 3 seed Oregon Tech has seized team-to-beat status.
The 17th-ranked Owls shook up the double-elimination tournament Saturday at University Field by upsetting top-ranked Southern Oregon, 5-0, to claim a spot in the Sunday’s final round. The Raiders – winners of the last three CCC Tournaments – will play No. 2 seed College of Idaho at 11 a.m. Sunday for the right to meet OIT in final at 1:30 p.m. Because they’re the only unbeaten team remaining, the Owls will get two shots at whoever comes out of the SOU-C of I matchup.
After dropping their tourney opener against OIT on Friday, the Yotes hung around by winning back-to-back elimination games on Day 2. The Nos. 4 through 6 seeds – Corban, Eastern Oregon and Warner Pacific – were all sent home.
A chronological recap of the day’s action follows:
GAME 5 – WARNER PACIFIC 4, CORBAN 2: In the first elimination game of the tournament, Warner Pacific stayed alive behind Melia Croydon's stellar complete game which she worked around eight hits and three walks to give up just one earned run. She got a lead to play with in the second when, after Kaylee Brown walked the bases loaded, Rebekah Roe hit an RBI single and Macy Besuyen drove in another run with a groundout.
In the sixth, the Knights' Katie Gleasman added a pinch-hit home run to make it 4-1.
The Warriors threatened in the seventh, which Samantha Martinez led off with a bunt that turned into a four-base error and their second run. With a runner on first and one out, Megan Ryan doubled down the right field line, but Kaylee Buhrkuhl got caught in a rundown after wandering too far off third base.
Corban's Allie Crakes allowed one earned run and three hits in 5 2/3 innings of relief.
GAME 6 – COLLEGE of IDAHO 4, EASTERN OREGON 0: Katelyn Wilfert brought a no-hitter into the sixth inning and College of Idaho bounced back to knock out EOU. Wilfert lost the no-no on Shelby Starr's infield hit but only gave up one more and held on to the shutout, her fifth of the season. She struck out seven and walked one in the 80-pitch effort.
Yotes center fielder Hattie Hruza helped out Wilfert by going 2-for-3 and tripling in two runs with two outs in C of I's three-run third inning. Mallory Copeland and Tristyn Crofts both contributed RBI singles.
McKenna Stallings pitched 3 1/3 frames for the Mountaineers in relief of Amanda Smith, who took the loss.
GAME 7 – OREGON TECH 5, SOUTHERN OREGON 0: Oregon Tech’s Sarah Abramson became the first pitcher to shut out top-ranked Southern Oregon this season in her third consecutive win of the tourney, putting the No. 17 Owls in Sunday's final.
Abramson scattered six hits with three strikeouts and no walks to improve to 22-5 a day after no-hitting Warner Pacific and upsetting second-seeded College of Idaho. She took over the driver's seat when the Owls struck for a five-run third inning, where Kennedy Jantzi hit a two-run single and the next batter, Maggie Buckholz, connected for a three-run home run. Buckholz's shot knocked out SOU ace Gabby Sandoval after just 2 1/3 innings, her shortest start of the season.
The Owls are responsible for half of the losses in 2021 for the Raiders, who dropped to 46-4. SOU had won 10 consecutive CCC Tournament games dating back to 2017.
GAME 8 – COLLEGE of IDAHO 8, WARNER PACIFIC 4: Hannah McNerney came up big in relief and College of Idaho took advantage of two critical miscues by the Warner Pacific defense in its second win of the day.
Trailing 1-0 in the third, the Yotes broke through as Aleah Mendiola tied the game with an RBI single and Tristyn Crofts' blooper to center found grass to drive in two more runs. In the fifth, two Knights errors led to five unearned runs that gave C of I an 8-2 lead.
McNerney pitched the final 4 1/3 innings and held the Knights to two earned runs to get the decision.
Crofts finished with three RBIs and one run scored, while Mendiola and Micha Fortune (2 runs) had two hits apiece.
The sixth-seeded Knights finished with a 20-25 record.