HELENA, Mont. – The Carroll College softball team takes the field Friday at the Cascade Conference Championship against Oregon Tech at 12:30 p.m. Mountain time.

The Saints are the No. 6 seed and take on the No. 3 seed Owls, who they defeated two out of three times in the regular season.

Carroll made the 18-hour bus ride to Ashland, Oregon for the second time in three weeks, but head coach Aaron Jackson said his team is ready to play.

"The travel went smooth and we had a great practice today," Jackson said. "We had great pace a lot of energy. We are excited to get going on the weekend and get into games tomorrow."
 
The Saints are the six seed, but have been competitive against every one of the top teams in the conference, losing games in the final innings.
 
"We've been competitive against all these teams, but sometimes you need some luck," Jackson said. "Sometimes you need some timely hitting. We need to bring all three facets and we will be in the mix."
 
A huge advantage for Carroll will be the pitching staff. The Saints tote two pitchers in Tess Eaton and Alison Williams who were named to the Cascade Conference second-team. Depth is important when there can be a lot of games to play on a championship weekend.
 
"Our pitching depth is huge for us," Jackson said. "We can throw a different starter for each game and we can use our bullpen and get a lot of innings from a lot of different people. If we get in a position that we have to work our way back, that bodes well for us."
 
The Saints have already won more game than any season in school history and Jackson feels his team in ready to build on their accomplishments.
 
"Our focus has been great," Jackson said. "They are ready to go. I haven't seen a group this focused and calm, in my time. They are ready to show the conference what they are going to bring to the table."
 
Live video is available via the SOU Stretch Internet Portal and live stats are available via the SOU Sidearm stats view.