ASHLAND, Ore. – Despite a 4-for-8 day from
Destiny Turner, extending her hit streak to 18 games, the College of Idaho could not hold off No. 16 ranked Southern Oregon, as the Raiders used two late rallies to sweep a doubleheader at University Field.
The Raiders (25-11, 11-5 CCC) scored three runs in the sixth inning of both games to pick up 5-3 and 6-3 victories.
SOU held a 2-1 lead in Game 1 after five innings – despite not recording a hit off Coyotes (11-14-1, 5-9) starter
Cortni Pena – but strung together five hits in the sixth inning, including a two-run Alexa Gonzalez double, to extend the margin to 5-1.
The Yotes loaded the bases with one out in the seventh, scoring a run on an
Alex Kordopatis RBI single and adding a run on a
Katie Rowe RBI hit, but had a runner gunned out over-running third base for the second out of the inning. Raiders starter Sydney White coaxed a ground out to end the game.
Turner and Kordopatis each had 2-for-4 games, with Pena going five-plus innings, allowing just three earned runs with six walks and two strikeouts. White went the distance for the Raiders, striking out five.
Game 2 swung back-and-forth, as the Yotes took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on the strength of a solo homer from
Ashley Pesek. The lead was short-lived, as back-to-back two-out bases loaded walks gave SOU the 2-1 edge.
C of I tied the score in the third on a Kordopatis RBI single, only to see Southern get a leadoff triple from Tyler Burke and taking a 3-2 lead when Burke scored on a Abigail Lund sacrifice fly.
The Yotes pulled event again in the sixth when
Katie Rowe scored on a
Jodie Hoagland fielders' choice. However, White was summoned from the pen and worked out of a second-and-third jam by striking out back-to-back C of I batters.
In the last of the sixth, SOU struck again with two outs, as Kayleen Smith broke the 3-3 tie with an RBI single, followed by a two-run single from Nicole Cardoza.
Gonzalez had a two-hit game for the Raiders, with White getting the final five outs for the win.
Pesek went the distance for C of I, allowing five earned runs on nine hits, striking out five. Turner had the lone multi-hit game, going 2-for-4.
The Lady Yotes continue their road swing next weekend with games at Great Falls and Carroll.
