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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels May 15, 2004 Clan sends Raiders packing By Rich Rosenthal For the Tidings PORTLAND - The 2004 Southern Oregon University softball season ended Friday, but not before the 22nd-ranked Raiders gave powerhouse Simon Fraser University a stern challenge in the finals of the NAIA Region I tournament at Delta Park. After toppling archrival Oregon Tech 3-2 in a 10-inning thriller in a morning loser-out semifinal clash, the Raiders operated with 1-0 and 3-2 leads and trailed only 6-5 entering the final inning before falling to the defending national champions, 11-5, in the tournament-clinching contest. SOU, which needed to defeat the three-time regional champion Clan (32-2) twice to win the four-team tourney crown and earn a trip to nationals, capped the year with a program-best 40-12 record. The Raiders, who fell to 0-8 all-time against the Canadian school, staked the 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning when Carla Lillis scored all the way from first base on a Seanna Doyel bunt single and a two-base throwing error by Clan third baseman Ali Caviglia. A Lillis RBI groundout and another Clan throwing error gave SOU a 3-2 edge after the fourth inning. SFU took the lead for good with four runs on five hits in the sixth frame, but Southern pulled within 6-5 on a Lillis RBI single to left field and on a bases-loaded passed ball by catcher Kim Rossiter. Clan All-American pitcher Erin Thomas, however, quelled the sixth-inning rally by enticing Miranda Gillaspie to groundout to second, and SFU put the game out of reach when Caviglia capped a five-run seventh with a three-run homer over the center field fence. SOU advanced to the afternoon session by downing OIT for the seventh time in nine season meetings this season and for the second time in the tournament. The longtime rivals battled to a 2-2 deadlock until a bases-loaded single by sophomore Amy Williams scored Haley Varley for the game winning run with one out in the bottom of the 10th inning. Gillaspie, who pitched every inning in both contests, yielded only three Owl hits for her 23rd season victory. Varley went 3-for-4 and scored twice against OIT, led SOU with four hits on the day and finished with a .403 season average. Junior shortstop Kara Ray had two hits to finish as the team and Cascade Conference batting champion (.406). DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams