KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Shae Sever lined a walk-off, opposite field home run in the bottom of the tenth inning, lifting British Columbia past Oregon Tech, 4-3, in Game 9 of the Cascade Conference Softball Championships at Stilwell Stadium.
The loss eliminated the Lady Owls (42-9) from the tournament, while UBC advanced to the title game, where Eastern Oregon claimed the crown with a 14-0 win.
Three home runs by the T-Birds (26-18) were the difference, including two pinch-hit long balls.
Marla Goodspeed staked Tech to a 1-0 lead in the fourth, lining an RBI double to left-center to plate
Puakea Milbourne – the second of three doubles in the game by the senior. OIT doubled the lead an inning later, as
Sawyer Stenson hit a long solo homer to left.
UBC got a run back in their fifth, as Claire VanSpall lined a pinch-hit homer to center, while an inning later, Kennedy Ainge golfed a 2-run homer inside the foul pole in left – giving the T-Birds the lead.
Down to their last three outs, Tech got a Stenson walk, with pinch-runner
Jazmine Macias moving to third on a sacrifice and a ground out.
Zoe Allen followed with a high-chopper just off the tip of the glove of third baseman Jillian Matsubara, allowing the tying run to score.
Both teams squandered chances in the ensuing innings – as UBC loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh and OIT stranded runners in scoring position in the eighth and ninth innings.
After getting a double-play ball to end the OIT tenth, Sever drove a 2-strike pitch over the wall in left to win the game for the Canadian side.
Goodspeed finished 3-for-3 with two walks, Allen was 3-for-5 and Milbourne had two hits, with Marin Jorgenson going 3-for-4 for UBC.
OIT starter
Alli Parker threw six innings, allowing seven hits and three runs, with no walks and two strikeouts. Sever got the win for UBC, allowing two runs in four-plus innings.
The Lady Owls will learn the teams heading to the Basin for the NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Round on Wednesday at 3 p.m. Tournament play will begin May 12.
