via Oregon Tech Athletic Communications
ASHLAND, Ore. – Two suicide squeeze bunts and a Jayce Seavert 2-run triple keyed 4-run tenth inning rally, as Oregon Tech claimed the Cascade Conference series with No. 1-ranked Southern Oregon, winning 5-1 at University Field.
Kacie Schmidt worked out of jams in the seventh and ninth inning to set up the Lady Owls (25-5, 12-3 CCC) extra-inning outburst – tossing all 10 innings to claim the victory.
SOU (31-3, 13-2) claimed the non-conference finale, 7-2.
Game 1 was a duel between Schmidt and Raiders freshman Ayla Davies – with Tech scoring an unearned run in the sixth as Nita Cook singled, stole second and scored on a dropped pop up on the infield.
The Raiders tied the score in the seventh on a leadoff homer from Kennedy Kila and had a chance to win the game with two outs on a Vanessa Lang single – but Marla Goodspeed threw out Brooke Nordahl at the plate to force extra innings.
Southern loaded the bases with one out in the ninth, but Schmidt coaxed a ground ball that forced the lead runner at the plate and a ground out to end the threat.
OIT capitalized in their next at bat – as Zoe Allen walked and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Cook popped a fly ball into center that was lost in the late day sun, putting runners at the corners. Following a Cook stolen base, Gina Allen dropped down a perfect squeeze bunt to plate the runner from third, giving Tech the lead. Seavert cleared the bases with a triple into the right-center gap, with Puakea Milbourne scoring Seavert with the second squeeze bunt of the inning.
Cook, Seavert, Goodspeed and Sawyer Stenson each had two hits in the win, with Schmidt working around 11 hits for the victory. Kila was 3-for-5 in the loss for SOU, with Davies allowing a season-high four earned runs.
The Raiders jumped to a 6-0 lead in Game 2 – with Sarah Kerling lining 3-run triple to break the game open.
OIT got RBI singles from Milbourne in the third and Zoe Allen in the sixth – but stranded runners in scoring position in each of the four middle innings.
Zoe Allen was 3-for-3, with Milbourne and Stenson each recording two hits in the loss.
Tech returns home this weekend, hosting British Columbia in a 4-game series, beginning Friday at 2 p.m.
