Appearing at the World Series for the sixth time in seven years, Raiders finish 41-19 overall
COLUMBUS, Ga. — Madonna (Mich.) knocked Southern Oregon out of the NAIA World Series with a 4-3 win on Saturday afternoon, deciding the game with a pair of fifth-inning runs at South Commons Softball Complex.
The No. 10-seeded Raiders’ first error of the tournament was a costly one. The Crusaders, seeded No. 8 and ranked No. 11 in the final NAIA poll, loaded the bases against Katie Machado with one out in the fifth. She then got their cleanup hitter, Jessica Dunkel, to ground to third base, but Hannah Clavelle’s throw home to Piper Love got away.
That play allowed the tying run to score, and the go-ahead run followed on Mackenzie Ming’s sacrifice fly. Both were unearned against Machado, the three-time conference all-star who completed her excellent senior season at 26-7.
Appearing at the World Series for the sixth time in seven years, the Raiders finished with a 41-19 record. The Crusaders improved to 54-5 and will be among the last six teams standing when they resume play Monday.
Jordan Henderson hit a solo home run — just as she did in Friday’s win over Central Methodist (Mo.) — to give SOU a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Madonna’s Alissa Gauthier answered with a two-run shot in the third.
The Raiders went up again, though, with a pair of runs in the fourth, where Hailey Seva’s RBI double was an inch short of clearing. Brooke Nordahl chased her home by dropping in a two-out single into left field, making the score 3-2.
They missed out on a chance to tack on in the fifth with two runners in scoring position. In the seventh, Kailer Fulton and Hannah Clavelle ripped back-to-back singles with two outs before Maeson Schlaud induced a groundout to seal the win.
Schlaud upped her record to 37-4. The Raiders were just the second opponent in her last 15 starts to tag her for more than two earned runs.
Clavelle and Faith Moultrie recorded two hits apiece for the Raiders, who totaled nine of them compared to Madonna’s six. Machado pitched her sixth complete game of the national tournament.
The game was the last in the careers of Clavelle, Henderson, Machado and Kelly Ann McKeown, each of whom were contributors to last year’s national championship team. This spring, they led the Raiders to 40-plus wins for the sixth consecutive full season.
For more on Southern Oregon University Raider athletics, go to souraiders.com.
