SALEM, Ore. – In a battle of two of the Cascade Collegiate Conference's (CCC) powerhouses, the No. 23-ranked Corban University softball team hosted No. 1 Southern Oregon University in a non-conference doubleheader on Saturday.

The Raiders came out victorious in each of the two NAIA top-25 matchups, pulling ahead in the final inning of game one for a 6-3 triumph, and riding a strong pitching performance to a 5-1 win in the finale.

It was Corban that drew first blood in game one, scoring a pair of runs in the squad's first offensive opportunity against 2019 First-Team All-American and CCC Pitcher of the Year Gabby Sandoval. A gritty at-bat from Ivey Uppinghouse—during which she saw double-figure pitches and eventually earned a bases-loaded walk—got the scoring started. Samantha Martinez then earned an RBI the hard way, wearing a pitch from Sandoval to force in the second run.

A Tayler Walker solo shot helped the Raiders get one of those runs back in the top of the second. The Southern Oregon first baseman struck again in the fourth, tying the game at two with an RBI single to left.

In the top of the sixth, Riley Donovan hooked a go-ahead double down the left-field line to give SOU its first lead of the day, forcing the Warriors into a position where they would need to conjure a rally against one of the NAIA's elite arms.

Corban managed to do just that, however, as Tabby Humphrey sparked a two-out rally in the bottom of the stanza by singling and stealing second base. Madison Wyllie—who has had a knack for clutch knocks early on in the 2021 campaign—then brought Humphrey home with a game-tying single to left, knotting the game at seven heading into the final frame.

The stubborn Raider offense would issue a threat in the top of the seventh, however, taking advantage of a unique play to recapture the lead. With two outs and a runner at second, Hannah Shimek struck out swinging; however, she was able to reach first on a dropped-third strike. Allie Stines, who started the play at second, delivered some heads-up baserunning on the play, reaching third on the wild pitch, and then sneaking home on the throw from the Warrior backstop Martinez to the first baseman Uppinghouse.

That sequence would give the Raiders the lead, which the visitors would then expand upon with back-to-back RBI singles.

Sandoval (CG, 6 H, 3 ER, 5 K) would earn the win in the wild contest, while Warrior starter Holly Gonzales (CG, 9 H, 6 ER, 4 K)—who pitched admirably in the defeat—would get saddled with the tough-luck loss.

Lauren Quirke got the start in the circle in game two for the Raiders, helping her own cause with a first-inning two-run homer off Kaylee Brown to start the scoring.

She then drove in another run in the top of the third via an RBI two-bagger, pushing the Raiders' lead to three. Corban's lone run of the contest came in the second half of the stanza, when Humphrey's baserunning prowess once again paid off. The senior speedster reached on a free pass, advanced on a fielder's choice, stole third, and scurried home on an errant throw from Raider catcher Donovan that ricocheted off the helmet of hitter Makiah Johnson.  

Southern Oregon would add insurance runs in the fifth and sixth, but it was all just added comfort for Quirke, who surrendered just three hits and one run (zero earned runs) in a complete-game victory.

The Warriors (5-6) will now look ahead to CCC competition, hosting Carroll College next week (March 5-6) in the first of three-consecutive home weekends of conference play.