COLUMBUS, Ga. – A much anticipated match-up between two of the top pitchers in the NAIA did not disappoint – as Oregon Tech's Sarah Abramson and Science & Arts Emily Cerny each took a shutout into the seventh inning. Despite registering just two hits on the day, USAO used small ball to plate three runs in their final at bat, topping the Lady Owls, 3-0, in Game 3 of the NAIA Softball World Series at South Commons Softball Complex.
 
The loss for Tech (49-12) drops the Owls into the elimination bracket – meeting Tennessee Wesleyan tomorrow morning at 6 a.m. (PT) – with the game live on radio in the Klamath Basin on 104.3 & 960 Sports. An OIT win would move the squad into a second elimination game at 3 p.m. (PT) vs. the loser of tonight's Oklahoma City-Southeastern contest.
 
Abramson was dominant through six innings – limiting the Drovers (51-8) to a third inning single from Mackenzie Ruth. The right-hander worked around five walks and was helped by her defense – as Kaila Mick erased Ruth between second and third on a pump-fake and tag, while in the fifth, Shayla Clouse was thrown out at the plate by Mick trying to score on an infield grounder. She finished the game with eight strikeouts – three shy of the Cascade Conference all-time record of 911, established in 2014.
 
OIT stranded nine runners on base – including runners at first-and-second in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. In the sixth, a 2-out Jayce Seavert walk was followed by a Mckenzie Staub base-hit, before Aubrie Businger was robbed of an RBI single by a lunging catch from USAO shortstop Sophie Williams to end the threat.
 
The Drovers took the lead in the seventh – despite not hitting a ball out of the infield.  Darci Chester walked and following a strikeout, pinch runner Destiny Donahue moved to second on a 10-foot infield single from Savanna Ashford. Williams dropped down a sacrifice bunt, but Tech failed to record an out – as Donahue beat the throw to third to load the bases. Clouse delivered the first run with a 5-pitch walk and Ashford sprinted home on a passed ball to extend the lead to 2-0. Suni Meely capped the scoring with an RBI ground out.
 
Cerny did the rest, striking out a pair in the seventh, part of an 11-strikeout performance, to earn the win.
 
Mick was 1-for-2 with two walks for OIT and Lexi Klum extended her hit streak to five games with a fourth inning single.
 
NOTES: 

• Abramson and McKenna Armantrout have now played in three NAIA World Series – having been apart of the 2019 and 2021 squads that advanced to the 10-team tournament
• Cerny extended her NAIA all-time wins record to 142 and now has 1,359 strikeouts – No. 2 in NAIA history
• Abramson limited USAO to two hits – the third time this season the Drovers have recorded just two hits in a game – the sixth time in 2022 that she has limited an opponent to two hits or fewer.
• OIT is now 4-3 in World Series openers – picking up wins in 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2021, dropping their opener in 1997, 2019, 2022.