KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Freshman pitcher Sabrina Boyd (Pleasant Hill, Ore.) tossed her sixth complete game of the year, and the No. 22 Corban University softball team utilized a big third inning to fight off elimination and take down Avila University, 6-1, in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Opening Round.
Boyd, who collected her eighth victory in the circle, finished the ball game with four strikeouts and allowed just eight hits on the afternoon.
Sophomore left-fielder Taylor Eilders (Cameron Park, Calif.) tallied her first two triples of the season and recorded two RBI to pave the way for Corban, while sophomore catcher Danielle Ackerman (Dallas, Ore.) batted 2-for-5 on the afternoon. Meanwhile, sophomore first baseman Raimee Sluder (Longview, Wash.), sophomore second baseman Aubrene Blas (Sparks, Nev.), and junior designated player Jamie Costa (Tracy, Calif.) each added an RBI for the Navy and Gold.
With runners on the corners with two outs in the bottom half of the second, the Eagles nearly broke the scoreless standstill, as freshman left-fielder Araceli Juarez tried to sneak home while sophomore right-fielder Samantha Dexter got caught in pickle between first and second. However, Corban displayed some of its finesse on the defensive end, as junior shortstop Kali Van Cleave (Portland, Ore.) tossed it over to Sluder at first base who then fired it over to Ackerman for the final out of the inning.
The Navy and Gold (39-17) exploded for a quartet of runs in the third to take an early lead. Ackerman and senior third baseman Kyrianna Sorensen (Salem, Ore.) opened the inning with back-to-back singles, and then Costa smacked a shallow RBI single to give Corban a 1-0 lead. Eilders ripped her second triple of the afternoon to drive home Sorensen and freshman pinch runner Maddy Melton (Salem, Ore.) to extend the Warriors' lead to three, and then Sluder followed with an RBI single to left field to cap Corban's four-run inning.
While Boyd remained strong in the circle and compelled Avila (32-13) to only one hit in the third and fourth innings, Corban tacked on two runs in the fifth to claim a 6-0 advantage. After Van Cleave tapped a sacrifice bunt to put two runners in scoring position, Blas singled to drive home senior pinch runner Shelby Mauermann (Clackamas, Ore.). With a 5-0 lead, Ackerman hit a grounder to sophomore second baseman Katie McMurray who fumbled the ball, and sophomore pinch runner Paige Martin (Portland, Ore.) scored in the process to extend Corban's advantage to six.
Just one out away from surviving elimination, Boyd faced sophomore designated player Monica Hudson with a runner on third. Hudson fired a hard grounder to Sorensen who prepared to launch the ball to first base for the force out, but instead turned around and tossed the ball to Van Cleave at third to tag out Dexter and seal the 6-1 triumph for Corban.
The Warriors will battle first-seeded Saint Xavier (Ill.) in an elimination contest at 4:30 p.m. Live stats and live video will be available for the ball game.
