BOX SCORE 1 | BOX SCORE 2 SALEM – Corban and Oregon Tech split a Cascade Collegiate Conference softball doubleheader played Sunday afternoon at Warrior Field, the Warriors winning the first game, 6-2, before the Owls rallied to take a 7-5 win in eight innings in the second contest.

Corban is now 19-13 overall and 6-8 in the conference, while the No. 16-ranked Owls see their overall record go to 20-6 and their CCC mark to 13-1.

CORBAN 6, OREGON TECH 2

The first game came down to Corban getting clutch hits and Oregon Tech failing to do the same. In fact, the visiting Owls stranded 15 base runners, including leaving the bases loaded in the second, fifth and sixth innings.

The Warriors took a 2-0 lead in the first inning and never looked back. Annie Owen led off with a single, stole second and then scored on a double by Courtney Castronovo, and with two out Castronovo came home on a base hit by McCayla Hoffman.

Corban made it 4-0 in the third inning courtesy of one hit, an Oregon Tech error, two walks and a hit batter. The first run scored on a sacrifice fly by Lounette Jackson and the second came in when Kylie Durre was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

The Owls got a run back in the fifth when Tasha Silvius hit a ground ball and reached on an error with the bases loaded, but the hosts answered with two runs of their own in the same inning. A leadoff single by Breonna Bejaran was followed by a dropped fly ball in the outfield. A throwing error by the catcher allowed one run to score, and Durre's line drive single off the first baseman's glove accounted for Corban's sixth run.

Oregon Tech scored its final run in the seventh on a single by Silvius, a double by Cassidy Olson and a RBI ground out by Danielle Sayres.

Samantha Gutwig improved her season record to 7-2, allowing one run on three hits in 4 1/3 innings. She walked four batters and struck out two. Danielle Horne, who came on in relief, picked up her second save this season by allowing one run on three hits in 2 2/3 innings of work. She walked two and struck out two.

The Warriors had seven hits, including a 2-for-3 performance by Owen.

Cassidy Olson went the first three innings, allowing four runs, and saw her record fall to 9-4. Olson had two of the Owls' six hits.

OREGON TECH 7, CORBAN 5 (8 innings)

The Warriors built an early 4-1 advantage, only to see Oregon Tech rally to take the lead in the sixth and then win it in the eighth.

Tori Weatherford, the league's top hitter who was held in check by the Corban pitchers in the first game, provided key hits for the Owls late in the second game. She hit a two-run single in a four-run sixth inning and then drove in what proved to be the winning run in the eighth. She later scored on a wild pitch for the game's final run. Weatherford finished the game 3-for-4 with three runs batted in.

The Owls took a 1-0 lead on the first pitch of the game when Shauna Collins went deep over the left field fence against Corban starter Jessica Holsinger.

The Warriors replied with a long ball of their own in the bottom of the inning, Breonna Bejaran hitting a two-out, three-run bomb over the fence in right-center field after a walk to Shelby Mauermann and a single by Kyrianna Sorensen.

Corban added a run in the second on Sorensen's bases-loaded, two-out bullet into left field, but the Warriors ended up leaving the bases loaded in that inning.

Oregon Tech did the same thing in the fifth, but finally broke through against Corban's bullpen in the sixth inning. Until then, Holsinger allowed just one run on two hits, though she dodged trouble several times after because of five walks in five innings. Horne, effective in the opening contest, gave up back-to-back doubles by Olson and Silvius for one run. After a walk to Sayres, Gutwig came into the game and gave up a single to Collins, loading the bases. The Corban pitcher recorded a strikeout for the second out of the inning, but a passed ball allowed the second run to score, leading to Weatherford's clutch two-run ground ball single through the left side of the infield.

Things got interesting in the bottom of the sixth when, with one out, Durre hit a solo homer over the fence in straightaway center field, tying the score at 5-5.

That set up extra innings and gave Weatherford the opportunity to provide the heroics. McKenzie Shrum hit a bloop double in between three converging Corban defenders in left field, and Weatherford drove her in with a base hit. She later scored on a wild pitch.

The Warriors went down in order in the bottom of the eighth, and the teams had their split.

"I was proud of how the girls played today," Corban head coach Nathan Ohta said. "They really showed the level they are capable of playing at, and while it would have been nice to get that second game it was big for us to get the split"

Oregon Tech finished the second game with nine hits, led by Weatherford with her three and Collins with two. Corban had six hits, led by Sorensen's 2-for-4 performance.

Rylee Carleton was effective in relief for Oregon Tech, allowing just one run on two hits in six innings to improve her record to 2-0. Gutwig took the loss and is now 7-3 for the season.

Corban is back in action at 2 p.m. tomorrow when it hosts Southern Oregon in another Cascade Collegiate Conference doubleheader. Prior to the start of the first game, former Corban great and NAIA career home run record holder Stephanie (Nippert) Hull, now a Southern Oregon assistant coach, will be honored.