The Corban baseball team is looking to make some noise north of the border in Canada over the weekend at the conference tournament.

Baseball 5/3/2016 1:25:00 PM Danny Day, Sports Information Director

NAIA West Tournament Preview: Warrior Baseball Primed for Big Performance

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – The Corban University baseball team is primed and ready to make some serious noise in the 2016 NAIA West Grouping Conference Tournament, and if the Warriors want their season to continue, they'll need to make a big splash north of the border over the weekend. With the stakes higher than ever, Corban is ready to play its best baseball of the 2016 campaign at the most important moment.

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

Corban enters the tournament as the No. 4 seed and will face off against the No. 5 seed, Marymount University (Calif.) in the tournament's opening game. Marymount (15-23-1, 11-7 Cal Pac) earns a trip to the conference tournament in its inaugural season as a program. The Mariners played against Oregon Tech twice earlier in the campaign, losing both games via score-lines of 14-3. All games of the conference tournament will be played up north in Canada at the host school, the University of British Columbia.

Lewis-Clark State College 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)

Corban (24-25) is led offensively by juniors Vince Gonzalez (Kennewick, Wash.) and Benjamin Liogon (Culiacan, Mexico). Gonzalez boasts a team-best .326 batting average with 44 hits and 12 RBI, while Liogon has racked up a team-best 46 hits with a .295 batting average. Senior Braden Wolgamott (Bellevue, Wash.) provides some of the power in the middle of the lineup for the Warriors and is tied for the team lead with fellow senior Hayden Calvert (Canberra, Australia) with 21 RBI each. Additionally, junior Jackson Smith (Salem, Ore.) has been stellar behind the plate all year long for Corban, gunning down opposing team's baserunners consistently, while also totaling 18 RBI and 31 hits thus far on the campaign.

Corban's pitching staff has also been one of the keys to success during the 2016 season, as the Warriors look to sophomore righty Rilyn Lewchuck (Oregon City, Ore.) to lead the way on the mound, as he owns a 2.88 ERA with a team-best five wins. He is one of six Corban pitchers with a sub-3.00 ERA during the 2016 season. Also throwing well lately has been sophomore Caleb Henry (Salem, Ore.), totaling a 3.67 ERA on the year with a team-leading 65 strikeouts. Out of the bullpen, sophomores Jarett Thoren (Nampa, Idaho) and Daniel Aranda (Lebanon, Ore.) have proved clutch on a number of occasions, accumulating 2.45 and 2.47 ERAs, respectively.

Live stats will be available for all games. And be sure to follow @CorbanAthletics on Twitter for Warrior updates, and follow 'Corban Athletics' Snapchat for a behind-the-scenes look at the weekend. Watch the Corban Baseball Promo Video now: