BOX SCORE 1 | BOX SCORE 2 EUGENE – Corban saw its Cascade Collegiate Conference softball playoffs go from hopeful to "need-a-miracle" status after the Warriors dropped a Tuesday afternoon doubleheader to Northwest Christian at James Park.

The host Beacons (13-24 overall) took 3-0 and 5-4 victories and leapfrogged Corban into fifth place in the CCC standings with their 12-14 record. The Warriors (24-20 overall) slipped to sixth place with an 11-15 conference record.

Corban is still mathematically alive for the fourth-and-final conference tournament berth but has to sweep Northwest Christian on Saturday in Salem and hope that Southern Oregon loses all four of its remaining games. The Raiders, 12-12 in the CCC, play a doubleheader at last-place Northwest in Kirkland, Wash., on Friday and another doubleheader against second-place Concordia in Portland on Saturday. Southern Oregon owns the tiebreaker advantage over Corban, so a tie in the standings goes to the Raiders.

NCU 3, CORBAN 0

Jill Suratt limited the Warriors to just four hits and helped her own cause with a solo home run in the second inning. That proved to be all that Suratt would need, though teammate Parker Bonife followed up Suratt's blast with a home run of her own. The Beacons' other run came in the fourth inning and was unearned.

Corban had several good scoring opportunities but couldn't come up with a clutch hit against Suratt, who struck out three and walked three. The Warriors left five runners in scoring position, including three on third base.

Northwest Christian managed a total of seven hits, five coming against Corban starter and loser Samantha Gutwig. Despite striking out four, Gutwig's record dropped to 8-6 after she gave up three runs in 3 1/3 innings in the circle. Danielle Horne finished up the final 2 2/3 innings for Corban, allowing no runs on two hits with one strikeout.

NCU 5, CORBAN 4

The Warriors fell behind early and still trailed 3-2 when they scored twice in the top of the sixth inning to take a 4-3 lead. The Beacons came back to tie it in the bottom of the sixth, scoring an unearned run on a base hit and two Corban errors, and then they won it on Bonife's one-out bases-loaded single in the seventh.

NCU opened the scoring in the first with two runs on three singles and a squeeze bunt, but the Warriors got one back in the second on a run-scoring single by Annie Owen.

Suratt, who was 3-for-3 in the second game, drove in a run with a third inning single, but again Corban replied when McCayla Hoffman belted a solo homer in the fourth.

Corban took its only lead of the day in the top of the sixth inning, putting together a nice rally against Suratt, pitching for the second straight game. Courtney Castronovo led off with a double and Breonna Bejaran was walked, but when Hoffman hit a single to right field Castronovo was thrown out at the plate, though the other two runners advanced a base on the throw. With momentum seemingly gone, freshman Kylie Durre hit a single through the right side, scoring both Bejaran and Hoffman to put her team on top, 4-3. Consecutive NCU errors loaded the bases with one out against relief pitcher Janieve Boyles, but she ended the threat with a strikeout and fly out.

That set the stage for NCU's rally in the final two innings.

Corban finished with six hits, including two each from Hoffman and Durre. The Warriors left seven runners on base, four in scoring position.

Horne went the distance for Corban and took the loss to fall to 4-2. She allowed five runs on 10 hits while walking one and striking out one.

"I felt like the girls competed in both games today, but we made a couple mistakes that hurt us, and we just couldn't come up with the big swing we needed to make up for it," Corban head coach Nathan Ohta said.

"We used a lot of players last weekend and today and asked Sam and Dani to throw a lot of innings because of some injuries we have right now. I thought the girls did a nice job of being ready to do their part. Today was a day where we definitely had chances in both games but just couldn't quite break through with the big hit when we needed it. Our pitchers did a good job of limiting damage and keeping us in both games, and McCayla Hoffman had a really good day at the plate," Ohta added.

Corban concludes its 2014 regular season schedule with the aforementioned Saturday doubleheader against Northwest Christian. First pitch for the opening game is slated for 2 p.m.