KEIZER, Ore. – Thanks to a dominant pitching performance from Rilyn Lewchuk, the Corban University baseball team earned a day-one split with College of Idaho. After winning game one, 3-1, the Warriors dropped the second game of the day to the Yotes, 10-1.
Click the 'play button' on the photo above to watch the video highlights from Game 1.
"Today was Rilyn's best performance of the year," said Corban head coach Jeff McKay. "I am glad we could get him a win finally, as he has pitched as good as anyone in the league. Our defense was again outstanding in game one, and we grinded out a couple of key at-bats at the right time. It was a good pitchers' duel with two of the top pitchers in the league."
In what was a pitchers' duel from start to finish, the Warriors took advantage of a couple of early mistakes by the Yotes to score a run in both the first and second innings to nab the 2-0 advantage. Corban then added one in the seventh to make it 3-0 before C of I pulled one back in the eighth via a home run from Bobby Wright to make it 3-1.
Lewchuk gave way to Thomas Kerr who came on in the ninth to close the door. It was not easy, however, as the Yotes loaded the bases with one out. Kerr then struck out the next batter and got the final batter of the game to foul out to Daniel Freiburger who made a nice running catch in foul territory on the right side, sealing the victory for Corban.
Lewchuk went eight innings in his first win of the year, dispersing four hits while allowing one run and striking out four. Kerr earned the save, allowing three hits in the ninth inning, but did now allow any runs. After the game, Lewchuk talked about the team's performance:
At the dish, the Warriors totaled just five hits as a team, and Drew Loera went 2-for-4 to lead the way for Corban.
For C of I, Zach Draper pitched all eight innings in the defeat, dispersing the five hits while allowing the three runs, all of which were unearned. The Yotes committed five errors in the loss.
In game two, C of I took the early lead in the second inning, but Loera provided the answer for Corban in the fifth with a solo shot over the left-field wall to tie things up at 1-1.
Caleb Henry then got two quick outs in the sixth, but the Yotes rallied and strung together a number of hits to eventually score two runs and nab the 3-1 advantage. The score would remain that way until C of I scored five runs in the eighth and two more in the ninth en route to the victory.
For the Yotes, Dalton Ridgway went 4-for-4 at the plate with five RBI and two runs scored to lead C of I to the conference triumph. Niall Manning earned the win, tossing five innings while allowing just three hits and an earned run while striking out three.
"Nothing went right in game two for the Warriors," said McKay. "It was a very poor effort, and it was disappointing especially after winning game one at home in front of our fans after being on the road nearly the whole month of March. Thanks for your support today, and we are looking forward to rebounding tomorrow."
Corban (12-22, 6-15 NAIA West) returns to the diamond tomorrow against the Yotes (15-19, 8-9 NAIA West) for another conference doubleheader. First pitcher is set for 11 a.m.
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