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GREAT FALLS, Mont. – A rematch of the 2016 Cascade Collegiate Conference Finals awaits Lady Argo softball this weekend, with two doubleheaders against Eastern Oregon University (7-7, 4-2). The Mountaineers were the only team to beat UGF in the CCC Playoffs, beating the Lady Argos 3-0 in the semifinals of the double-elimination tournament and then again in the finals 3-2.

In the regular season, the team's split 2-2. Both of UGF's wins against EOU came with now graduated pitcher Keeley Van Blaricom in the pitching circles.
EOU will host both doubleheaders, the first with games at 3 & 5 p.m. on March 17, and the second with games at Noon & 2 p.m. on March 18.

Keeping Up With the Joneses: The Lady Argos will need to win at least a couple of games against EOU to get back into the conference playoff hunt. After starting the year with a program best 6-0 record in non-conference play, the team has struggled early on in its CCC schedule.

UGF started conference play going 2-2 in a home series against Carroll College, with one win of the wins coming in the second game of the second doubleheader, which doesn't count as a conference contest. The team then traveled to Ashland, Oregon where they dropped all four games, all of which were close, to Southern Oregon.

That puts the team's record at 8-6 (1-5) and has the team sitting in ninth out of 10 teams in the CCC Standings. The top six teams in the conference qualify for playoffs.

Learning to Close: UGF's series against SOU was almost a weekend that proved the Lady Argos belong to be toward the top of the conference, instead of plummeting them towards the basement.

Every game in the series was close. The Lady Argos held the lead through six and a half innings in two of the games and lost two games on a walk-offs.
The combined score through five innings of the four games was 11-11, but in all the innings after that, SOU held an 11-2 advantage. Had UGF been able to finish even half of those games, it would've been a strong statement against a strong Southern Oregon team. The Raiders were voted to finish second in the Preseason Conference Coaches' Poll, and are currently tied for first in the CCC standings.

Quick Notes

• The All-Time series between UGF and Eastern Oregon favors UGF with 17-13 record.
• Junior third baseman Kylie Gonzales continues to be UGF's most dangerous hitter. She hit for an average of 0.384 against the Raiders with 4 RBI, 2 doubles, and 1 home run. She ranks 16th in the NAIA with 1.357 RBI per game.
• Senior Jackie Thomas is the hot hand at the plate for UGF. She entered the series against SOU with a batting average of .300 and left with it .333. She went 5-12 at the plate while driving in 4 runs.
•  The Lady Argos tightened up the defense vs. SOU. After committing 7 errors in the team's series against Carroll, UGF limited that number to 5 against the Raiders.
• Junior pitcher Kristina George ranks 44th in the NAIA in ERA with a team leading average of 1.35. She also ranks 2nd in the NAIA with 4 saves, though she is 1-2 in starts.
• Senior pitcher Shelby Abeyta suffered her first loss of the season against SOU. She was 5-0 before the game and is now 5-1 on the year.
• UGF has scored at least 1 run in every game this season.

About Eastern Oregon

• The Mountaineers are currently third in the CCC standings with a record of 8-7 (4-2). They swept Northwest Christina and took one game from (19) Oregon Tech, the only ranked team in the conference.
• Redshirt-senior utility player Cheyenne Barker is coming of a great performance at the plate against NCU. She went 5-10 with 3 HR, and 7 RBI, which earned her CCC Softball Player of the Week.
• Barker is at the center of a power hitting batting order for EOU. The Mountaineers rank 17th in Division I Home Runs per Game (0.769), while Barker ranks 8th with 0.385 HR/G.
• Paring well with Barker, senior infielder Lauren Burchak leads EOU in both batting average and RBIs. Her average of 1.727 RBI/G ranks 4th in the NAIA, she ranks 6th in slugging percentage (0.969), 12th in HR/G (0.364), and 23rd in batting average (0.500).