Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. - After earning a morning win to reach the Cascade Conference championship game, the College of Idaho could not answer a pair of three-run innings by Concordia University, as the Cavaliers claimed the league crown, 7-2, at the OIT Softball Complex.
The Lady Yotes (29-15) opened the day with a 3-1 elimination game win over regular-season champ, Oregon Tech, but for the second-straight day, the CU bats erupted to win their first tournament title since 2010 - clinching their fourth trip to the NAIA Softball National Championships.
In the early game, C of I took a 2-0 lead just three batters into the game. Briana Brace led off with a walk and an out later, Alexis Macias cracked her third home run of the season. Nickayla Skinner took over from there, scattering six hits and allowing just a Tasha Silvius third inning homer, to win her 20th game of the season - helping her own cause in the sixth with a run-scoring single.
Rylee Carleton took the loss for the Owls (33-13), allowing just three hits, but walking five. OIT will wait for Tuesday final Top-25 poll to see if they'll earn one of eight at-large bids to the National Championsips.
In Game 2, the Cavaliers (33-15) put runners at second and third with two outs - with Meghan Luebbert singling home a run, with a second run scoring on a wild throw in from the outfield, and Luebbert scoring when a second relay throw to the play went awry.
C of I cracked the scoreboard in the fourth, as Ashley Van Horne lined her school-record sixth triple of the season, scoring on a Macias sacrifice fly. The Yotes would load the bases with two outs, but Cavs pitcher McKenize Marshall worked out of the jam.
Concordia struck again with two outs in the fifth, as Miriah Jiminez slugged a three-run homer to put the game out of reach.
Kate Santos, Cassidy Horner, and Luebbert each had two hits for CU, with Turner and Brace recording two hits for the Yotes.
C of I returns to action on Monday, May 12 - hosting the NAIA Softball National Championships Opening Round at Symms Field. The bracket for the event will be released on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
