HAPPY VALLEY, Ore. – A four-run fourth inning led the 17th-ranked Corban University softball team to a 4-1 triumph over Pacific University in game one, but the Boxers answered in the nightcap with a 10-6 triumph of their own, giving each team a share of the spoils on Sunday afternoon at Hood View Park.
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Corban struggled to find its offensive rhythm early on in the opener, but in the fourth frame while trailing 1-0, the Warriors struck. With a pair of runners on base, junior shortstop Iris Rodriguez (Warden, Wash.) blasted a two-RBI double, giving Corban its first lead of the contest at 2-1.
Next up was junior third baseman Raimee Sluder (Longview, Wash.), and Sluder connected and sent a homerun over the left-field fence, extending Corban's advantage to 4-1.
From that point on, Corban's pitching staff closed the door. Senior lefty Jessica Holsinger (Eagle, Idaho) earned the win, throwing six innings while giving up just three hits and one earned run, striking out five in the process. Picking up the save was sophomore pitcher Sabrina Boyd (Pleasant Hill, Ore.) as she closed the door on the Boxers in the seventh. Boyd was aided by a savvy defensive play from junior second baseman Paige Martin (Portland, Ore.) in the inning, as she nabbed a hot line drive and turned the double play, getting Pacific's baserunner at second base.
Offensively, Sluder finished the game 3-for-3 at the dish with the two RBI, while sophomore first baseman Raina Reece (Salem, Ore.) notched her first-career hit with Corban in her first game on the field for the Warriors.
Game two saw Corban jump in front 3-1 in the bottom half of the second inning as the Warriors took advantage of some Boxer errors, resulting in the three runs.
Pacific, however, got its bats going in the third and fourth frames, scoring nine runs to take a commanding 10-3 lead.
Corban pulled two runs back in the bottom half of the fourth, but heading into the seventh, the Warriors still trailed by five runs. Rodriguez launched a homerun over the centerfield fence in Corban's final at-bat in the seventh, but that would be all the Warriors would muster, resulting in the four-run loss to the Boxers.
Madison Hedlund earned her first win of the year for Pacific (7-2-1), throwing 2.1 innings of solid relief. At the dish, Emily Tesdale went 4-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored for the Boxers to lead the way offensively.
For the Navy and Gold, freshman left fielder Ashleigh Lynch (Ronan, Mont.) registered a team-best two hits in the defeat, while junior pitcher Allie Mendez (Stockton, Calif.) picked up her first loss of the 2016 campaign, allowing six hits and five runs, only one of which was earned. In relief, Holsinger came on late and threw two solid innings of one-hit ball while allowing no Boxer runs.
After the games, Sluder talked about her performance and the day as a whole:
"The ladies did some good things today and you can see all the pieces of a very good team and we are just a click away from putting it all together," said Corban head coach Nathan Ohta. "We had a few mistakes in the second game that hurt us, but as the weather allows us to get on the field a bit more, we'll get all those things ironed out. That was a good win against a very solid ball club and a very good pitcher that threw really well against us today and will give us a bit of momentum heading into our home stand next weekend."
Corban (6-4) returns to action next Saturday and Sunday for a four-game series with Embry-Riddle University (Ariz.). First pitch both days is set for 12 p.m., and games are scheduled to be played at Warrior Field.
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