BOX SCORE 1 | BOX SCORE 2 SALEM – Corban pushed across a run in the bottom of the 15th inning to win an opening game marathon, 2-1, before Sean Callegari pitched British Columbia to a 3-1 victory in the second contest on Saturday as the two teams split a NAIA West baseball doubleheader at Warrior Field.

With each team taking two games in the series, the Thunderbirds maintained a one-game advantage over the Warriors in the NAIA West standings. UBC, 25-11 overall, is in second place with a 16-8 record while Corban, 26-19, is in third with a 15-9 mark.

CORBAN 2, BRITISH COLUMBIA 1

Great pitching was at a premium in this game as first the starters, and then the relievers, dominated the opposing offenses.

Corban got the game's initial run in the second inning on a leadoff walk to Marc Gallegos, an infield single by Ben Straka, a sacrifice bunt by Ryan Rosas, and a RBI ground out by Stockton Taylor.

British Columbia answered with a run in the fifth inning on a leadoff double off the left field fence by Tyler Enns and a run-scoring single by Bruce Yari.

Then it was a pitching duel until the 15th inning.

For Corban, starter Tony Davidson allowed one run on five hits in seven innings. Daniel Aranda, who picked up a save in two innings yesterday, threw the next seven innings and allowed just one hit while walking three and striking out one. That left it to Eli Driessen to pitch the 15th, which he did without allowing a hit, and he ended up getting the win when the Warriors finally scored in the bottom of the inning.

For British Columbia, Bryan Pawlina gave up one run on three hits in the initial four innings. Curtis Taylor and Matt Thornton both allowed two hits in four innings of work before Corban finally got to Alex Webb, who pitched 2 1/3 innings, for the winning run.

Corban loaded the bases on a single by Daniel Orr, a walk to Marc Gallegos and an error. With a 1-0 count, Webb hit Ryan Rosas in the middle of the back with the next pitch, and the game was over.

Yari had two of UBC's six hit, while Landon Frost and Orr both had two of Corban's eight hits.

While the game was a long one at 15 innings, it didn't come close to matching the longest game in Corban baseball history. On April 2, 2011, the Warriors went 18 inning before beating none other than British Columbia, 4-3, at UBC.

BRITISH COLUMBIA 3, CORBAN 1

The game featured several outstanding defensive plays and also the pitching of UBC left-hander Callegari, who allowed just the one run on seven hits while walking one and striking out one. He improved his record to 3-2 with the victory.

Corban's Ryan Lewchuk battled Callegari on even terms through 8 1/3 innings but took the hard-luck loss to fall to 3-5 for the season. The freshman right-hander allowed three runs, two earned, on five hits. He walked two batters and struck out three.

The Warriors scored their only run in the second inning on a leadoff single by Gallegos and a two-out double to left by Tyler Bennett, but they got only two other runners as far as second base in the remainder of the game.

The T-Birds scored a run in the fourth inning when Matt Spillman led off with a single and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Kevin Biro. They took a 2-1 advantage in the fifth when Sebastian Wong hit a single to left, advanced to third on a two-base error in the outfield, and then scored on a ground out by Jerod Bartnik. Their final run came in the ninth on a RBI single by Enns.

Tyson Popoff, who had several fielding gems at shortstop, led the T-Birds with two of their six hits. Gregg Romero was 3-for-3 for the Warriors, who finished with seven hits.

Corban will be in Lewiston, Idaho, next Friday and Saturday for its final league series of the season against Lewis-Clark State. The teams play doubleheaders both days.