SOU clinches tie for conference championship

ASHLAND — The 24th-ranked Southern Oregon University softball team clinched no worse than a tie for the Cascade Conference championship by sweeping Albertson College of Idaho 6-3 and 9-1 on Sunday.

The Raiders (34-10, 16-5) would own all possible tiebreakers and repeat as league champion with any subsequent loss by second-place Western Baptist College (20-19, 10-9), and SOU could clinch the crown as soon as today when the Warriors host a doubleheader against fifth-place Concordia.

SOU maintained a four-game edge in the league loss column with four conference games remaining by accumulating 26 singles and three doubles en route to sweeping the six-game season series against the struggling Coyotes (10-31, 4-19).

In Game 1, the Raiders overcame five errors in the opening two innings that allowed three ACI runs to score, but SOU evened the tally at 3-all on freshman Beth Morrill’s RBI double down the left field line in the fourth inning.

After Raider ace Miranda Gillaspie stranded Coyote freshman Anna Schroeder at third base in the top of the sixth, sophomore outfielder Leann Foster delivered the key blow in the bottom half of the frame — a two-run double off the left-field wall — and scored moments later on a single by sophomore Amy Williams.

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Gillaspie allowed eight hits and struck out five over seven innings in upping her league-best season record to 19-5.

Southern was never seriously challenged in Game 2.

Sophomore Amanda Cregan improved to 10-4 overall by tossing a three-hit, eight-run-rule-shortened, six-inning masterpiece. Meanwhile, junior all-star Haley Varley compiled three hits, and five others had two hits in the 15-hit barrage.

Sophomore Megan Rock doubled in two runs and scored on a throwing error to end the contest with none out in the sixth. Varley upped her season average 18 points to .391 by going 5-for-7 in the twin bill, while Williams (5-for-6, 3 RBIs), junior Kara Ray (4-for-7, 2 stolen bases) and Foster (4-for-7, 4 RBIs) also had impressive stat lines.

Southern Oregon caps an eight-game homestand next weekend against Concordia (Friday, 2 p.m.) and Western Baptist (Saturday, Noon).

Track & Field

CHICO INVITATIONAL — At Chico, Calif., the Southern Oregon University track and field team had several competitors notch national-qualifying marks during the 10-team event on Saturday.

The women’s 4 x 100 relay squad of Rachel Hinze, Emily Dunn, Megan Heuberger and Andrea Eide finished fourth and set a school record with a time of 48.59, while the 4 x 400 team (minus Dunn and including Brook Jentsch) grabbed third with a season-best time of 3:57.01.

The men’s 4 x 100 team (Kento Kawamura, Kevin Savidge, Chris Hill and Bart Maney) also fared well with a season-best time of 42.75, while the 4 x 400 squad took second in 3:22.67.

Brynn Cogdill took fourth in the 1,500-meter run with a national-qualifying time of 4:44.60, while Sean Peterson won the 800 in 1:54.33.

Heuberger finished third in the 400 intermediate hurdles with a season-best time of 1:03.17 and Trevor Palmer took second in the 1,500 with a national-qualifying time of 3:53.90.