BOX SCORES – GAME #1 | GAME #2

VANCOUVER, B.C. – After playing four games over the past two days that included an 18-inning affair yesterday, Corban's baseball team ended its weekend series against the NAIA's No. 11-ranked British Columbia with a pair of losses, 8-1 & 5-2, Sunday at Thunderbird Park.

Junior Steven Blum (Salem, Ore.) drove in a pair of runs for the Warriors and senior Nate Hiebert (Lebanon, Ore.) pitched a complete games in the finale, as the two teams ended 57 innings of baseball this weekend in Canada.

GAME #1 – BRITISH COLUMBIA 8, CORBAN 1

In the opener, Corban scored the game's first run when sophomore Kyle Kunkel (Bremerton, Wash.) scored on a wild pitch after drawing a lead off walk, stealing second, and advancing to third on a fly out to give the visiting Warriors an early 1-0 lead.

British Columbia would tie the game in the bottom of the third inning on a Keaton Briscoe ground out that plated Sebastain Wong and knotted things at 1-1.

Two innings later, UBC would get the go-ahead runs on a two-run single up the middle by Andrew Firth that would turn out to be the game-winning runs and handed the host Thunderbirds a two-run lead (3-1).

In the bottom of the seventh inning, British Columbia would put five runs on the board on five hits with RBI hits coming from Blake Carruthers, Kevin Nickel, Graeme Carey, and Bob Foerster that handed the T-Birds a seven-run advantage (8-1) that would turn out to be the final score.

Corban would get a perfect 2-for-2 performance from sophomore Andy Hill (Eugene, Ore.) and a single hit from freshman Lance Foster (Snohomish, Wash.), while sophomore Caleb Virtue (Vancouver, Wash.) went the opening 4.1 innings allowing three earned runs on seven hits before turning the ball over to senior Chris Trammell (Salem, Ore.) and junior Mike McKay (Almira, Wash.) for the final 3.2 innings combined.

British Columbia was led offensively by Firth's 4-for-5 showing, while David Otterman went the opening 8.0 innings for the Thunderbirds allowing one earned run on three hits before Dave Forbes came in to get the final three outs.

GAME #2 – BRITISH COLUMBIA 5, CORBAN 2

In the finale, Corban took an early 2-0 lead through three innings thanks to a run-scoring single through the left side in the first inning and a sacrifice fly in the third inning by Blum that scored senior Kyle Taylor (Clackamas, Ore.) both times.

Unfortunately, the visiting Warriors' lead would not hold for very long as British Columbia got a RBI double to left field by Carruthers in the bottom of the fourth inning before Wong drove in a pair of T-birds with a single to left field one inning later that handed UBC a one-run lead (3-2).

In the bottom of the sixth inning, British Columbia would put two runs on the board thanks to a Foerster single before Matt Spillman drove in the final run of the game via a single that scored Greg Densem for the final three-run advantage (5-2).

Corban would get a team-leading 2-for-4 performance from Taylor to go along with Blum's two RBI, while Hiebert went the distance allowing five earned runs on eight hits for the first complete game of the season by any Warrior pitcher.

British Columbia got a perfect 3-for-3 showing from Spillman, while Shawn Hetherington pitched a complete game for the Thunderbirds allowing two earned runs on five hits to go along with a game-high two strikeouts.

With today's results, Corban falls to 6-22 overall and 1-11 in NAIA West play. Meanwhile, British Columbia improves to 21-7 overall and 17-2 in league games. The Warriors will return to the diamond on Tuesday, April 5th, against the Boxers of Pacific University of Oregon beginning at 4:00 p.m. on Warrior Field in Salem.