via Oregon Tech Athletic Communications
ASHLAND, Ore. – The battle between the top two teams in NAIA softball did not disappoint, as No. 1-ranked Southern Oregon and No. 2-ranked Oregon Tech split a doubleheader at windy University Field.
A match-up between the top two arms in the Cascade Conference in Game 1 ended in a 2-1 SOU win, while Addison Kachnik drove in four runs for OIT in a 7-2 victory in Game 2 – ending Southern’s 15-game win streak.
Sarah Kerling broke a 1-1 tie in the fifth inning of Game 1, with Raiders (26-2, 10-1 CCC) freshman Ayla Davies working out of two late jams to earn the win.
SOU took a 1-0 lead in the third on a Tech error, while a Raiders throwing error in the fifth allowed Zoe Allen to score the tying run. The Owls (20-4, 8-3) got a runner to second in the sixth and a runner to third in the seventh – but could not plate the tying run.
Allen was 2-for-3 in the loss for Tech, with Kacie Schmidt holding the top hitting team in the league to just five hits. Davies held OIT to five hits in the win, striking out five.
The Lady Owls never trailed in Game 2 – as Kachnik hit a second inning 2-run double off the left field wall, while in the third, RBI singles from Puakea Milbourne and Allen doubled the lead to 4-0.
Brooke Nordahl got SOU within 4-1 with a fourth inning RBI ground out, but Tech got key insurance runs late – as Kachnik lined a 2-run sixth inning single and in the seventh, Nita Cook singled home a run.
Carli Moore earned the win, holding Southern to a run on five hits, with Schmidt earning the save, allowing a run on four hits over the final three innings.
Milbourne was 4-for-4, Allen and Cook were 3-for-4, with Kachnik going 2-for-4 – all part of a 15-hit attack.
The Lady Owls return to action this weekend at Corban – with the series shifted back 24 hours – with doubleheaders in Salem now set for Saturday and Sunday.
