IRVINE, Calif. – The Corban University baseball team fell behind early on Monday afternoon in Southern California, and the Warriors ultimately never climbed out of a three-run hole, resulting in a 4-2 defeat against No. 18 Concordia University (Calif.). With the loss, Corban drops to 8-4 overall on the season, while the Eagles improve to 18-3 on the year.
For the Warriors, it is their second loss to the Eagles in as many seasons, having lost to Concordia during last year's California road swing as well, 9-4.
The Eagles got on the board in the first frame with a pair of runs and then tacked on one more in the second to take a commanding 3-0 advantage.
Corban senior pitcher Austin Guzzon (Oceanside, Calif.) then settled into a grove over the next four innings, shutting the Eagles down while not allowing any runs. The only problem, however, was that Concordia's Dillon Moran was dealing on the hill for the Eagles, and he kept the Warrior bats quiet until the seventh inning.
In that important seventh frame for the Navy and Gold, junior center-fielder Hayden Calvert (Canberra, Australia) registered an RBI single to left-center, bringing home senior second baseman Marc Gallegos (Astoria, Ore.). Junior right-fielder Nic Coffman (Portland, Ore.) then provided an important base-knock up the middle, scoring senior first baseman Daniel Orr (Kingston, Wash.) from second base on the play. Then with runners on at first and third base and a chance to tie the game or even take the lead, the Warriors unfortunately grounded into an inning-ending momentum-killing double play, ending the opportunity.
Concordia responded with a run in the bottom half of the frame, and that would be all the Eagles would need as the Warriors could not regain the momentum, resulting in the two-run defeat.
"It was a tough loss for the Warriors against a nationally-ranked team," said head coach Jeff McKay. "We played hard and battled well. They had a couple of balls find holes at the right time, and we did not. Austin Guzzon gave us a quality start and the bullpen performed well, but the offense did not capitalize on a couple of opportunities. We will learn from this game and expect to win our share of games like this during the rest of the season."
Guzzon finished the day going six innings on the mound while dispersing seven hits and giving up three runs, only two of which were earned. He also struck out five batters in his first loss of the year. Junior pitcher Ryan Wood (Meridian, Idaho) also gave the Navy and Gold a solid outing out of the bullpen, throwing 1.2 innings while allowing no hits and no runs.
At the plate as a team, the Warriors totaled five hits. On top of Calvert's and Coffman's RBI hits, it was Gallegos, Orr, and senior designated hitter Peter Martin (Toledo, Wash.) who recorded the other hits for Corban.
The Warriors return to action tomorrow when they take on Vanguard University in Costa Mesa at 2:30 p.m.
