KEIZER, Ore. – After a rigorous non-conference slate to begin the 2019 campaign, the Corban University baseball team appeared primed and ready for its first NAIA-West matchup of the season, opening up conference play with a pair of wins (10-0 and 6-4) over Oregon Tech on Saturday.

"I'm proud of the way the guys opened up conference play today," said head coach Derek Legg. "It was fun to see the energy they brought to the yard. We're looking forward to trying to repeat it tomorrow."

CLICK HERE to watch Legg's postgame interview.

Game one featured the strongest all-around performance, to this point, of the season for the Warrior squad, with the offense exploding for ten runs and the defense turning in an errorless effort behind the Navy and Gold's masterful pitching.

Back-to-back four spots in the third and fourth innings were more than enough for Warrior ace Jonathan Russomano, who earned his first win of the season after tossing six shutout innings and striking out eight.

With 16 hits as a team, six members of Corban's starting lineup—Maxwell Jeffrey, Josh Ebert, Daniel Freiburger, Ben Ross, Zackary Simon, and Jared Bell—finished with a multi-hit day. It was the top of the Warrior lineup that did the most damage, with Corban's one-through-four spots in the order (Jeffrey, Ebert, Freiburger, and Ross) going a combined 9-for-16 with eight RBIs.

In stark contrast to their game-one victory, the Warriors had to claw from behind in game two. The Owls struck first via an RBI single from reigning All-NAIA West first baseman Josh Kallstrom, who would finish the contest 2-for-4. After an RBI groundout from Jeffrey evened the score in the bottom half of the frame, Oregon Tech would put up two in the fourth and one in the fifth to take a 4-1 lead at the midway point.

Corban would mount a five-run rally in the latter half of the fifth to claim the lead, with three of the Warriors' five runs coming with two outs. No at-bat was bigger than Ross's, who fought off a couple of tough pitches from Owl starter Jax Evenhus, eventually slicing a two-out, two-strike, two-run double into right center to drive in the tying and go-ahead runs.

The lead would prove to be all the Warriors would need, as the Corban bullpen teamed up to throw three shutout innings to seal the victory. Freshman Drew Scherrer continues to establish himself as a reliable arm in relief for Legg, sparkling in his two frames of setup work. Corban closer Jacob Bowser also stepped up in the game's waning moments, stranding the tying run at second base with a strikeout to end the contest.

Four Owls—Kallstrom, Micah Jio (2-for-4), Austin Zavala (2-for-4), and Cole Walter (2-for-3)—ended the game with a pair of hits, but Oregon Tech was unable to find the big hit it needed, stranding 11 baserunners in the game-two defeat.

Though two very different victories, both prove valuable to the Warriors. Though just the beginning of the squad's conference regiment, every triumph is valuable in what promises to be a neck-and-neck battle for supremacy in the NAIA West.

The Warriors (4-10-1) will conclude their four-game set against the Owls tomorrow, with first pitch of the doubleheader set for 11 a.m. at Volcanoes Stadium.