Raiders Fall to Fire
Southern Oregon now faces Indiana Wesleyan in a Monday elimination game at the NAIA Softball World Series.
A Southern Oregon softball player watches the ball after making contact during NAIA Softball World Series action. Photo by Matthew Hicks, MSH Visual / SOU Sports Information.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — Southern Oregon’s 16-game winning streak came to an end Monday afternoon as Southeastern Florida defeated the Raiders 5-2 at the NAIA Softball World Series.
The loss was SOU’s first in 41 days and moved the No. 3-seeded Raiders into the elimination bracket. Southern Oregon is scheduled to face No. 8 seed Indiana Wesleyan at 5 p.m. PT Monday at the South Commons Complex.
Southern Oregon entered the matchup 45-13 overall after defeating Cumberlands Kentucky in its tournament opener Thursday. The Raiders were originally scheduled to face Southeastern on Saturday, but weather delays pushed the game back two days.
Southeastern, the No. 2 seed, improved to 50-8 with the win. Junior pitcher Maria Zelenka threw a complete game for the Fire, holding SOU to six hits.
The key inning came in the second, when Southeastern scored four runs and took advantage of a Southern Oregon error. After a hit batter opened the inning, the Raiders threw a sacrifice bunt into the outfield. Zelenka and Chloe Baker followed with RBI singles to give the Fire a 2-1 lead.
Later in the inning, Hailey Bradley lifted a blooper toward second base with two outs and the bases loaded. The ball went in and out of Vanessa Lang’s glove as she attempted an over-the-shoulder catch. The play was eventually ruled a double, allowing two more runs to score and giving Southeastern a 4-1 lead.
The Fire still led by three after four innings when the game was delayed by rain for 105 minutes.
Southern Oregon trailed by four runs entering the seventh inning before mounting a final push. The Raiders opened the inning with back-to-back singles and added a run on a sacrifice fly from Lang, but Ari Williams flew out to deep left to end the game.
Kalea Thomas led SOU at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a run-scoring single in the second inning. She also came up with two runners on in the fourth and hit a hard line drive to Baker at third base, which turned into a double play.
Southern Oregon now faces a difficult but familiar road through the elimination bracket. The Raiders had to win seven straight elimination games during last year’s national tournament, and dating back to their first national title in 2019, SOU has won 15 of its last 16 World Series elimination games.
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