ASHLAND, Ore. —Oregon Tech pitcher
Sarah Abramson (pictured) became the first pitcher to shut out top-ranked Southern Oregon this season in her third consecutive win of the Cascade Conference Championships presented by U.S. Bank, a 5-0 decision Saturday at University Field that put the No. 17 Owls in Sunday's final.
"We did a great job putting good swings on the ball early in the game with a couple of clutch hits by Kennedy and Maggie," siad head coach
Greg Stewart. "Sarah was outstanding in the circle again today."
Abramson scattered six hits with three strikeouts and no walks to improve to 22-5 a day after no-hitting Warner Pacific and upsetting second-seeded College of Idaho. She took over the driver's seat when the Owls struck for a five-run third inning, where
Kennedy Jantzi hit a two-run single and the next batter,
Maggie Buckholz, connected for a three-run home run, her eighth long ball of the year.
Maggie Buckholz hits home plate after HR (Photo by Kelly Caleb)
Buckholz's shot knocked out SOU ace Gabby Sandoval after just 2 1/3 innings, her shortest start of the season.
The third-seeded Owls (41-8) are responsible for half of the losses in 2021 for the Raiders, who dropped to 46-4. SOU had won 10 consecutive CCC tournament games dating back to 2017.
Kaila Mick and Buckholz led the Owls with two-hits each, Buckholz had three-RBI while Jantzi delivered two RBI for Tech in the win.
OIT will have two chances to win the title starting at 1:30 p.m. Sunday. The Raiders will be in an elimination game for the right to play them at 11 a.m. against College of Idaho or Warner Pacific.
2021 Cascade Conference Softball Championship Schedule
Friday, May 7
Game 1 - No. 4 seed Corban (Ore.) def. No. 5 seed Eastern Oregon, 2-1
Game 2 - No. 3 seed Oregon Tech def. No. 6 seed Warner Pacific (Ore.), 3-0
Game 3 - No. 1 seed Southern Oregon def. Corban (Ore.), 4-1
Game 4 - Oregon Tech 7 def. No. 2 seed College of Idaho, 7-3
Saturday, May 8
Game 5 - Warner Pacific (Ore.) def. Corban (Ore.), 4-2 (CRB eliminated)
Game 6 - College of Idaho def. Eastern Oregon, 4-0 (EOU eliminated)
Game 7 - Oregon Tech def. Southern Oregon, 5-0
Game 8 - Warner Pacific (Ore.) vs. College of Idaho, 4:30 p.m. (loser eliminated)
Sunday, May 9
Game 9 - Southern Oregon vs. College of Idaho, 11 a.m. (loser eliminated)
Game 10 - Oregon Tech vs. College of Idaho, 1:30 p.m. (championship)
Game 11 - If Necessary, 30 minutes after completion of Game 10
