SALEM, Ore. – There was no shortage of excitement in Saturday's two games between the No. 17-ranked Corban University softball team and the Northwest University Eagles. In the end, the Warriors walked away with two nail-biting wins, 1-0 and 6-5, to punctuate a four-game sweep on Senior Weekend.
Click the 'Play Button' above to watch video highlights from the two wins.
"I'm proud of the team for the fight they showed today," said head coach Abigail Farler. "Rachel [White] threw an incredible game one and set the tone for the day. In game two, the team figured out a way to walk away with a win and that's important. We saw everyone do their part today. Even though our offense wasn't as strong as we would've liked and our pitching wasn't as consistent as it could be, the players fought for each other and never gave up."
To watch Farler's postgame interview, CLICK HERE.
Seven Warrior seniors—Baylee Day, Ashton Porter, Naomi Harris, Alyssa Vidal, Rachel White, Mahina Chong, and Jessie Isham—were honored prior to the start of today's doubleheader. All have made significant contributions during their careers with the Navy and Gold, playing a role in the program's record-setting success over the past four years. In addition, nearly half of the senior class (Vidal, Chong, and Isham) can be found in the Warrior record books.
"This was a great way for our seniors to go out for their last games on Warrior Field," Farler added. "This truly is an incredible class. They have contributed so much to our program and will leave a legacy when they are done."
White, making her last-ever start on Warrior Field, delivered the best performance of her career in game one. The senior from Anchorage, Alaska hurled a complete-game shutout, striking out eight Eagles and allowing just one hit in the seven innings of dominant work. White is working on a sneakily outstanding 2019 campaign, dropping her ERA to 1.93 with the victory.
Kaycee Arase was the offensive hero for the Navy and Gold, lashing a clutch two-out single up the middle in the sixth, bringing in Chong for the game's only run.
Game two also came down to the wire, despite Sam Woodley (2-for-4, two runs, two RBIs) and Kaylee Buhrkuhl (2-for-4, one run, three RBIs) combining to drive in a pair of runs in the first for the Warriors.
Northwest answered right back with a four-run top of the second, spearheaded by a two-run blast by Carly Tighe. Tighe's bomb was one of two Eagle homers in the contest, as Alexis Contreras made it a 5-2 Northwest lead with her solo shot (5) in the fifth.
Corban got one back in the latter half of the frame via an RBI fielder's choice from Woodley, but Northwest would limit the damage and retain a two-run lead until the bottom of the seventh.
It wasn't until they were down to their final out that the Warriors were able conjure a rally, with Isham serving as the sparkplug with a two-out single to right. Woodley followed that up with a double off the left-field fence, missing a game-tying two-run homer by just a couple of feet.
Buhrkuhl then ripped a double of her own into the left-center gap, knotting the game at five. A couple of batters later, Arase brought in Buhrkuhl with a hot shot off third-baseman Jessica Nunes' glove, serving as a walk-off hero for the second-consecutive weekend.
The Warriors (30-12, 16-8 CCC) have just one more series before the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) tournament, traveling north to Vancouver, B.C. for a four-game set with the University of British Columbia (April 26-27) to close out the season.
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