CALDWELL, Idaho – Home runs from Katie Rowe and Hailey Chambers helped the College of Idaho split a Senior Day doubleheader with Southern Oregon at Symms Field.
The visiting Raiders (31-23, 12-14 CCC) won Game 1, 7-1, to clinch the final berth into the Cascade/Frontier Conference Championships, while the Lady Yotes grabbed a 9-5 victory in the late game.
In the nightcap, SOU loaded the bases in the first off starter Ali Longoria, plating runs on a Megan Winton walk and a Gina Ayala RBI ground out. The Yotes (19-31, 11-17) answered with one swing, as Rowe blasted a long three-run homer to left to give the hosts a 3-2 lead. C of I made it 5-2 in the third, as Jodie Hoagland delivered an RBI single and scored on a Destiny Turner ground out.
The Raiders cut the margin to 6-5 in the fourth on a Alli Painter two-run single, but a batters interference call and a line out got the Yotes out of the jam. In the bottom of the inning, Chambers got both runs back with a two-run blast to center, her first career homer.
It was enough for Cortni Pena, who allowed just one hit in three innings of relief to notch her second save of the season. Campbell and Turner each had two hits for the Lady Yotes, with Painter going 3-for-4 for Southern.
In the opener, C of I took advantage of a pair of Brianne Craig wild pitches in the first to plate a run, but the right-hander settled down, allowing just three hits the rest of the way to earn the victory for the Raiders.
Southern took the lead in the second on a two-run Kelsey Randall single; adding a Kayla Douglas two-run single in the third; tacking on three insurance runs in the seventh.
Randall was 3-for-4 with three RBI and Douglas was 3-for-3 with three RBI in the win for SOU.
NOTES: Between games, C of I honored its two senior student-athletes – Alexis Macias and Mikell Nye; Turner finished the season with a CCC-best 20 doubles, most in school history.
