SALEM, Ore. – After a thrilling conclusion to yesterday's action, the No. 10-ranked Corban University softball team and No. 3-ranked Southern Oregon University Raiders produced two more exciting one-run contests on Saturday.

The Raiders came out the victors in game one, edging the Warriors in a fierce pitchers' duel, 1-0. Corban then responded with a narrow victory of its own in game two, scoring two runs in the final inning to earn a walk-off 6-5 triumph.

"I am proud of the way our team responded today," said head coach Abigail Farler. "I thought we gave ourselves opportunities to win in game one, but unfortunately, we did not come up with the timely hit. We battled very well in game two, and I am proud that our team never gave up and continued to put pressure on them throughout the game."

The game-one battle in the circle between Southern Oregon's Gabby Sandoval and Corban's Rachel White was one of the best duels seen in the conference this season, as both starters held the opposing team hitless until the fifth inning. Each team mustered just three hits in the contest, with two of Southern Oregon's coming at just the right time in the seventh inning.

Tayler Walker got things going in the final frame, lacing a one-out double to reach scoring position. It was Paige Leeper who delivered the go-ahead knock, driving home Walker with a clutch RBI single a couple of batters later.

"Rachel threw an exceptional game," Farler said about her game-one starter. "She wasn't able to walk away with a win which was very unfortunate."

The victory sealed a series sweep for the Raiders (28-5, 14-1 CCC) in the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) portion of the series, pushing the team's win streak to 11 games at the time.

The two offenses awoke to combine for 25 hits in the non-conference series finale, which had no shortage of drama in its own right. At no point did Corban hold the lead in the contest, until the game's final batter.

After clawing back from down 2-0 and 4-1, the Navy and Gold finally tied the contest in the fifth courtesy of an RBI single from Kaylee Buhrkuhl, only to see the Raiders produce yet another seventh-inning run via a Tiana Brown RBI double.

The Warriors refused to quit, however, tying the game in the bottom of the seventh on a wild play involving a Madison Wyllie (3-for-4, one run, one RBI) bunt single, and walking-off on a Raider error the next batter.

Wyllie was one of three Warriors to register multi-hit performances in the win, as Jessie Isham (2-for-3, one run, one RBI), and Makiah Johnson (2-for-3, two runs) also made their presence felt at the plate for the Corban offense.    

It was the bullpen that starred in the circle for the Navy and Gold. Alyssa Vidal turned in two strong innings of work in relief of Sarah Probasco, and Lauren Besse—who was making just her fourth appearance of the year—sparkled in two and two-thirds innings of scoreless ball.   

Speaking on her relievers, Farler noted, "We saw great relief pitching out of both Alyssa and Lauren today, they gave us the opportunity to win the ball game."

Across all four contests this weekend between the two NAIA top-10 teams, three of the games finished with a final margin of just one run.

Corban (22-8, 11-4 CCC) will now anticipate another significant CCC matchup against a top-25 foe, traveling to Klamath Falls, Ore. next weekend to square-off with the No. 13-ranked Oregon Tech Owls. First pitch of Friday's series opener is scheduled to take place at 2 p.m.