BOX SCORE VANCOUVER, B.C. – Jacob Kopra allowed only five hits in a complete-game effort Friday afternoon as the Corban Warriors defeated the Concordia Cavaliers, 2-1, in an opening round game of the NAIA West Grouping Baseball Tournament at Thunderbird Park.

With the win, the No. 3 seed Warriors move into the winner's bracket where they will play at 1 p.m. Saturday against No. 1 seed and tournament host British Columbia, a 3-0 winner in Friday's late game. Concordia, the tournament's No. 2 seed, plays No. 4 College of Idaho in a loser-out game at 10 a.m. Saturday.

In beating Concordia for the second time this season, Kopra improved his record to 10-0. Jason Snodgrass went the distance for the Cavaliers and is now 5-6 for the season.

After leaving a runner on third base in the first inning, the Warriors took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth when Daniel Orr led off with base hit through the middle and then scored when Jordan Johansen hit a two-out single into center field. Johansen was making his first start for the Warriors after missing almost one month because of a quad injury.

Corban added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth and again it was Orr, the Warriors' leading hitter this season, who got the inning started. He hit a one-out opposite field double down the left field line and with two out Vince Gonzalez drilled a long double to the fence in left-centerfield to score Orr.

"When you're ahead and it's late in the game the add-on runs can make the difference," McKay said, giving credit to Concordia's Snodgrass for holding down the Corban offense. "Orr had a two-strike double and Vince has been really hot as of late. He's got some life to that bat."

The Cavaliers finally broke through for their only run in the top of the ninth inning. Christian Lichtenthaler and Blake Drake opened the inning with consecutive singles and both runners moved up a base on a sacrifice bunt by Blake Evetts. Ryan McGonigle's ground out scored Lichtenthaler and moved Drake to third, but for the ninth straight time Kopra induced a ground out to end an inning, and in this case, the game.

Of the 27 outs that Kopra recorded, one came on a strikeout, two on fly balls and the remainder on ground balls.

"It looks like it's almost routine," Corban head coach Jeff McKay said. "He's been so consistent. We call him our big dog and we just said that the big dog hunted again today."

Kopra took a 2-1 loss in Corban's opening game at the West Grouping tournament last year, but this year had a 2-0 lead and, as always, the backing of his coaches and teammates. "He was pitching really, really well when we got to the end of the game," McKay said. "We talked about it in the eighth inning, just kind of regrouped. He's such a good competitor and he's such a good kid. It was really nice to see him finish like that. He really deserves it. To win championships you have to have someone like that who's going to be able to close out games when you have to."

Concordia wasn't without scoring opportunities despite Kopra's effectiveness. With two out in the first Drake tucked a double into the left field corner, but Kopra got out of it with a ground out. In the third, Ben Talbot hit a leadoff double just inside the first base bag and down the right field line. Pinch runner Cody McDonald took third on a sacrifice bunt, but a strikeout and ground out ended that threat.

Amazingly, the Cavaliers' two doubles marked the first time all season that Kopra had allowed more than one extra base hit in a game. Coming into the contest, in fact, Corban's senior right-hander had given up just four extra base hits all season.

Corban's defense was flawless behind its pitcher and turned two double plays, twice to end innings after two of Kopra's three walks.

Snodgrass was the hard-luck loser for the Cavaliers, allowing just the two runs on nine hits while walking three and striking out three.

Orr scored two runs and had three hits, including a sixth-inning single through the middle that broke Corban's single-season hits record of 76 established by Todd Smasal in 2000. In addition, Orr's double in the eighth was his 23rd of the season, tying the record set by Smasal in 2000. Gonzales was 2-for-4 with one RBI for the Warriors, who left five runners in scoring position. Drake was Concordia's only player with more than one hit, finishing the game 3-for-4. The Cavaliers stranded four runners in scoring position.