LA GRANDE, Ore. – Eastern Oregon forced a winner-take-all match-up on Saturday to determine the Cascade Conference regular-season champion and host site of next weekend's league tournament, as the Mountaineers toppled Oregon Tech, 4-0 and 11-9 at Peggy Anderson Field.
 
EOU (37-7, 18-5 CCC) got a 4-hit shutout from Natalie Dimitrov in Game 1, while the hosts rallied from 1-0, 5-2 and 9-7 deficits to steal the nightcap – as the Mountaineers snapped OIT's 11-game win streak.
 
The two teams will meet Saturday in an 11 a.m. doubleheader – with the victor of Game 1 earning the host bid for the upcoming 6-team league event, running May 1-3.
 
Dimitrov handcuffed the Owls (38-6, 19-4) in the opener – limiting Tech to four singles, with one runner reaching third base.
 
Eastern got the run support they needed in the fourth, as Hope Burke slugged a solo homer, with the hosts adding three insurance runs with 2-outs in the sixth, keyed by a 2-run Brylin Field double.
 
Tech had their opportunities in Game 2, as Nita Cook scored on a first inning wild pitch to give the visitors the lead, but Burke answered in the bottom of the frame with a 2-run homer.
 
The Owls used a 4-run fourth to take the lead back – as Jazmine Macias tied the game with an RBI single, Cook was hit by a pitch and Malia Mick was walked, both with the bases loaded, with Addison Kachnik making it 5-2 with a sacrifice fly.
 
EOU counter-punched – as Emily Barry hit a 2-run homer and Raygun Klippert doubled home another, part of a 5-run inning for the Mounties.
 
In the sixth, OIT strung together five hits – including RBI singles from Mick, Kachnik, Sawyer Stenson and Brooklyn Loose – regaining the lead at 9-7. However, EOU had one final rally – tying the game on a Lexi Grumbois single and scoring the final two runs on an Owls error.
 
Klippert had two doubles and three runs scored for the Mounties, with Dimitrov getting the final five outs for the victory.
 
Stenson was 3-for-4 and Macias had two hits in the loss for Tech.