LEWISTON, Idaho – The Corban University baseball team closed out the 2016 regular season on Sunday with a pair of defeats to No. 4-ranked Lewis-Clark State College. Despite losing game one, 3-1, and game two of the day, 9-0, Corban will continue its season next weekend in the NAIA West Conference Tournament.
The Warriors will enter next weekend's NAIA West Conference tournament as the No. 4 seed and will face off against the No. 5 seed, Marymount University (Calif.). Marymount (15-22-1, 11-7 Cal Pac) earns a trip to the conference tournament in its inaugural season as a program. All games of the tournament will be played up north in Canada at the host school, the University of British Columbia.
LCSC is the No. 1 seed in the tournament but deferred hosting the conference tournament because LCSC already owns an automatic berth to the NAIA Baseball World series thanks to hosting it later in the month of May. UBC earned the conference's first automatic berth to the NAIA National Tournament thanks to finishing the highest of any team in the conference besides LCSC. The final automatic berth will be given to the tournament champion next weekend. If LCSC or UBC claims the tournament title, the final automatic qualifier will be given to the next highest finisher in the tournament.
Tournament Schedule:
Day 1- May 6
Game 1: 10 a.m.- No. 4 Corban vs. No. 5 Marymount
Game 2: 1 p.m.- No. 2 UBC vs. No. 3 COI
Game 3: 4 p.m.- Game 1 Winner vs. No. 1 LCSC
Day 2- May 7
Game 4:10 a.m.- Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser
Game 5: 1 p.m.- Game 2 Winner vs. Game 3 Winner
Game 6: 4 p.m.- Game 3 Loser vs. Game 4 Winner
Day 3-May 8
Game 7: 12 noon- Game 5 Loser vs. Game 6 Winner
Game 8: 3 p.m.- Game 5 Winner vs. Game 7 Winner
Day 4- May 9
Game 9: 12 noon- Game 8 Winner vs. Game 8 Loser (if necessary)
In game one on Sunday (third game of the series), Corban loaded the bases with two outs and saw junior designated-hitter Alex Storaci (Kennewick, Wash.) rip an RBI single up the middle, scoring Warrior freshman center fielder Zach Penrod (Nampa, Idaho) on the play. The Warriors, unfortunately, were unable to take advantage on the next at-bat and left three runners stranded.
LCSC tied things up in the second inning, scoring an unearned run, but the game remained tied from that point all the way until the eighth frame when LCSC plated two more base runners to take a 3-1 lead into the ninth.
Corban was unable to muster a comeback at that point, resulting in the tough two-run defeat.
At the dish, Storaci and freshman second baseman Daniel Freiburger (Rupert, Idaho) both recorded a pair of hits for the Warriors, while as a team, Corban tallied five total hits in the loss.
Sophomore lefty Connor Mattison (Salem, Ore.) threw six solid innings for Corban, allowing just two hits and one unearned run while striking out four.
In the game-two defeat, Corban was led by freshman right fielder Jalen Garcia (Billings, Mont.), as Garcia racked up three hits in the nine-run loss. As a team, the Warriors totaled just six hits.
LCSC (45-7, 30-5 NAIA West) jumped on top in the third frame with a trio of runs, tacked on three more in the fourth, and would eventually add on three more runs en route to the series sweep of Corban.
"It was another tough loss in game one with youthful mistakes costing us," said Corban head coach Jeff McKay. "Connor Mattison pitched very well, but we could not come up with the big hit. We are looking forward to the tournament. The injury bug got us this weekend again, but we will be home to regroup."
The Navy and Gold (24-25, 19-16 NAIA West) return home on Sunday evening and get prepared for the quick turnaround as the Warriors will travel north mid-week to Canada for the NAIA West Tournament. First pitch against Marymount is set for 10 a.m. on Friday at the host institution, UBC.
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