BOX SCORE

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Corban's softball team had its season come to a close Saturday in the Cascade Collegiate Conference Championship Series with a loss to the NAIA's No. 19-ranked Oregon Tech, 12-2, at OIT's Softball Complex.

Freshman Courtney Castronovo (Salem, Ore.) accounted for both Warrior runs via her seventh home run of the season in the bottom of the second inning, while sophomore Stephanie Nippert (Rocklin, Calif.) went 2-for-3 at the plate en route to capturing the conference's batting crown with a season-ending average of .481 to also set a single-season school record.

Senior Makenzie Marchbanks (Sweet Home, Ore.) pitched 4.1 innings allowing nine earned runs on 10 hits, while juniors Brittany Wagner (Oregon City, Ore.) and Emma Winckler (Eltopia, Wash.) combined to pitch 2.2 innings.

Oregon Tech would score the game's opening run in the top of the first inning before Corban took a one-run lead (2-1) in the bottom of the second inning on Castronovo's home run. Unfortunately, the Warriors could not hold the lead as the host Owls put 11 unanswered runs on the board with six coming off the bat of Jess Plummer via a pair of home runs en route to earning the league's automatic berth to this year's NAIA Softball National Championships.

Six Warriors registered hits, including base knocks by junior Abbie Pynch (Stayton, Ore.), sophomore Tamara Feb (Oregon City, Ore.), Winckler, Castronovo, and freshman Lounette Jackson (Escalon, Calif.), while Nippert ripped two singles that included a long single of the top of the left centerfield fence that would have made her the conference's first-ever 20-20 player.

Oregon Tech was led by Plummer with a 4-for-5 performance that included two runs scored and six RBI, while Shauna Collins was a perfect 3-for-3 from her leadoff position. OIT's Jackie Imhof went the distance for the Owls allowing two earned runs on seven hits with a game-high six strikeouts.

Corban concludes the 2011 season with a single-season record 25 wins, while the Warriors close out the year at 25-17 overall. Meanwhile, Oregon Tech improves to 35-12 overall and will advance to the national tournament later this month in Gulf Shores, Alabama.