ASHLAND/MEDFORD, Ore. – The UBC Thunderbirds (18-17, 10-9) dropped a tight, 6-5 game against the Southern Oregon University Warriors (29-10, 16-4) before blanking the No.10-ranked team in the NAIA 1-0 to earn an impressive road doubleheader split against one of the top squads in the Cascade Collegiate Conference.
The doubleheader started at University Field, where SOU's Hailey Seva's two-run single with one out in the seventh inning capped a three-run rally that gave the Raiders a 6-5 victory. A downpour started after the first inning of Game 2 and forced the teams to relocate to Lithia & Driveway Fields, where UBC's Shea Sever twirled a three-hit shutout that made the Thunderbirds 1-0 winners.
Due to more rain in the forecast, first pitch of Saturday's doubleheader has been moved up to 10 a.m.
UBC moved up to fifth in the CCC after the split, while SOU dropped down to fourth.
The T-Birds threw the first punch in the opener against Raiders ace Katie Machado, getting RBI doubles from Sever and
Keona Nordquist in the first two innings to take a 3-0 lead. SOU tied the game in the fifth when Faith Moultrie hit an inside-the-park home run and Seva roped an RBI single, but two errors in the sixth enabled UBC to go up again, 5-3.
Sever took to the rubber in the seventh to try to secure the game one save, but four of the five Raiders she faced lined hits. Moultrie, Jordan Henderson and Piper Love singled consecutively as the deficit shrunk to one. Love then stole second base to put two runners in scoring position for Seva, who cashed in with her third hit of the contest. It gave the Raiders their first walk-off win of the season.
Sever bounced back in a big way as UBC's starting pitcher in game two, barely allowing a ball out of the infield. She scattered three singles, struck out four and didn't issue a walk in her 91-pitch gem, inducing 10 groundouts. The 'Birds two-way star got the only run she needed in the fifth, when
Gabrielle Dorval's ground-rule double plated
Brielle Donoghue with two outs.
UBC has now defeated CCC-leading and NAIA No.15-ranked Eastern Oregon, second-place and NAIA No.4-ranked Oregon Tech and NAIA No.10-ranked SOU, which entered the day tied for second.