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--> --> May 11: Raiders fall short of nationals PORTLAND - Three games in 24 hours proved to be too much for Brandi Brown and the Southern Oregon University softball team. With Brown making her third start of the two-day Region I tournament the Raiders lost 6-1 to Oregon Tech on Friday, ending their season 28-9 - three wins short of the NAIA national tournament. SOU needed to beat its archrivals then win two more afternoon games against No. 2-ranked Simon Fraser in order to qualify for nationals. With Brown coming of a spectacular 13 2/3-inning, one-eared-run performance Thursday in which the Raiders toppled Oregon Tech but lost 1-0 to Simon Fraser, the junior ace didn't have enough left in the tank for her second playoff date with the Owls. Oregon Tech seized control of the game by scoring two first-inning runs and Cascade Conference player-of-the-year Leah Azevedo (3-for-4) iced the game with a three-run homer in the fifth, making it 6-0. The Owls also got a two-run blast from Meagan Webber in the third, after garnering three hits and three stolen bases in the first. Brown, one of four Raiders named to the all-conference team earlier this week, allowed 11 hits to end the season with a 25-8 record. She pitched all 20 2/3 innings for the Raiders at regionals. Freshman outfielder Alyssa Ellis drove in the Raiders' lone run when she smacked a two-out single in the bottom of the seventh that scored Latisha Inget. The win earned OIT a date with Simon Fraser and a chance to go to nationals, but the Clan quickly scuttled that chance by winning Game 1. Southern Oregon's regional loss completed just its second season of intercollegiate play. Only one Raider will graduate off the team - catcher Stacey Marshall. That long list of SOU returners includes all-conference third baseman Angie Chaplin, all-conference second baseman Haley Varley, all-conference first baseman Lisa Aitchison and Brown. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing