KEIZER, Ore. – The Corban University baseball team could not get the key hit when it needed it on Sunday afternoon at Salem-Keizer Volcanoes Stadium, and Oregon Tech tacked on eight runs late en route to downing the Warriors, 10-1. With the win, the Owls claimed the series victory as well, three games to one.
"We had our chances offensively to score early and often, but could not get anything to fall," said Corban head coach Jeff McKay. "This was a tough way to start the conference, but there is a long way to go. We have a saying in the program that the season is not defined by how we start, but how we finish. We will make adjustments this week to shore up some areas."
Oregon Tech jumped on the board in the second inning when DJ Harryman ripped an RBI triple to left field, scoring a pair of runners. Corban responded with a sacrifice fly in the third inning from Daniel Freiburger to halve the deficit, but the Warriors were unable to add anymore in the inning.
Corban looked as if it would score in the fourth, but a couple of unfortunate breaks went the other way to keep Corban off the board.
The Warriors had chances again in the sixth and seventh innings, but again, the big hit did not come. Corban left two runners stranded in the sixth, and then in the seventh frame, loaded the bases with nobody out. Owls' pitcher Doug Molzahn then shut the door on the Warriors, retiring the next three Corban batters en route to getting out of the jam.
Oregon Tech (6-6, 3-1 NAIA West) then piled it on in the eighth and ninth innings, scoring five in the eighth and three more in the ninth to secure the NAIA-West conference win. Molzahn was outstanding in relief, as he struck out 10 Corban batters over the course of five innings while allowing just two hits and giving up no runs while earning the win.
At the plate, Austin Zavala went 3-for-5 to lead the way for the Owls, while Kai Fong also went 3-for-5 with three RBI and three runs scored.
For Corban, Ethan Bragg tallied a pair of hits in the defeat. In addition, Jackson Smith, Drew Loera, Tyler Reitz, and Josh Ebert each recorded hits for the Warriors.
Corban (7-10, 1-3 NAIA West) takes to the road next weekend when it plays at the College of Idaho on Saturday and Sunday.
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