LEWISTON, Idaho – The Corban University Baseball team opened up its season on Friday afternoon at the Guardian Plumbing, Heating, and A/C Tournament, hosted by Lewis-Clark State College. Despite showing grit and resilience the entire day, the Warriors ultimately dropped two games against the (RV) University of British Columbia and No. 1 Lewis-Clark State College.
Game 1: UBC 4, Corban 2
Corban faced off against the University of British Columbia (UBC) in the first game of the day, and fell behind early. The Thunderbirds, a team that has been receiving votes in the National Coaches Poll, jumped on the Warriors starting pitcher early, lacing back-to-back doubles off senior Daniel Gober (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) to start off the bottom of the first inning. Both runners would eventually score, giving UBC a quick 2-0 lead.
After allowing a solo homerun to Max Hollingworth to start the second frame, Gober settled down and held the Thunderbirds scoreless for the following two innings before being relieved by sophomore Caleb Henry (Salem, Ore.).
Corban had its best opportunity of the game in the fifth inning, when it scored two quick runs and had the bases loaded with nobody out. Junior catcher Jackson Smith (Salem, Ore.) and junior infielder Austin Andrews (Portland, Ore.) had consecutive hits for the Warriors, their first two hits on the young season. Unfortunately for the Warriors, that was all they would get, as they were unable to take advantage of the opportunity and stranded all three runners on the bases.
UBC added an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth inning, and that concluded the scoring for both teams. Corban had a chance to come back in the final frame, getting the tying run on base, but was unable to put anything together and suffered the two-run defeat.
The Warriors had three hits in the game, with junior outfielder Davis Alderman (Richland, Wash.) gathering the other base knock.
Gober took the loss for Corban, allowing three runs (all earned), in four innings of work. Henry threw well in relief, allowing only one run in his four innings pitched.
Curtis Taylor allowed two unearned runs for UBC, striking out seven in 4.2 innings. Brad Smith earned the win in relief, throwing 2.1 innings of hitless ball.
Game 2: Lewis-Clark State 10, Corban 6
While the bats started off slow in game one, Corban started game two off on a positive note, striking first against top-ranked Lewis-Clark State in the nightcap. After junior shortstop Ryan Rosas (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) drew a leadoff walk, junior Benji Liogon (Culiacaa, Sinaloa, Mexico) scored him with a base hit to left field.
Unfortunately for Corban, Lewis-Clark bounced back quickly, scoring four runs in each of the next two innings and staking themselves to an early 8-1 advantage.
Junior infielder Kyle Kilian (Prosser, Wash.) shot some life back into the Warriors with a two-run double in the fifth-frame, but L-C State once again fired right back, scoring two more runs in the seventh to increase the lead to 10-3.
The Warriors scored three more runs in the top of the eighth inning, highlighted by a two-run homerun by senior outfielder Hayden Calvert (Canberra, Australia). That was as close as Corban would come, however, as the Warriors fell to L-C State by a final tally of 10-6.
Liogon led the way offensively, notching two of the Warriors' six hits.
For L-C State, Jake Barnett earned the win with five innings of three-run ball.
Junior Daniel Aranda (Lebanon, Ore.) took the loss for Corban.
"The Warriors were in both games until the end today against two teams as good as anyone in the country," said Corban head coach Jeff McKay, "but youth and inexperience was a factor today. It was sure good to get games in today. We had some good first year player performances."
The Warriors (0-2) will return to the diamond tomorrow when they take on Northwest Nazarene University at 10 a.m.
