GREAT FALLS, Mont. – The Corban University softball team began a weekend road stint on Friday afternoon against the Argos of the University of Providence (Mont.). The Navy and Gold offense showed up big on day one, as they pounded out a total of 15 runs in the two games combined. In the end, the Warriors walked away from the first day of action with an 8-5 victory in game one, and a triumph by the score of 7-2 in the evening billing.

Game one was a seesaw affair early on, as the Warriors jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on an RBI double by Megan Rybar. But in the bottom half of the inning, the Argos struck for two of their own on a two-run single into right by Peyton Elliot.

Corban would tie things back up in the top of the second, as they scored on an infield single from Kaylee Buhrkuhl with the bases loaded to push a run across.

However, in the bottom of the third stanza, Providence added another tally to their score on another RBI single from Elliot, which created a 3-2 advantage for the Argos.

In what was the turning point of the game for the Warriors, a two-homer inning pushed the Navy and Gold in front 5-3 in the fourth. Makiah Johnson (two-run HR) and Buhrkuhl (solo HR) smashed back-to-back jacks off of UP starter KJ Schweikert, and the Warriors never lost the lead after that point.

A two-run fifth extended the Corban cushion, as Johnson was back at it with a ripped two-run base hit into right field that drove in Anastasia Iosia and Samantha Martinez, who both reached via the base-on-balls.

Providence would poke a two-run shot off the bat of McKenzie Staats over the wall to make the Corban advantage just 7-5 in their favor.

Another run scored in the seventh for Corban, as Johnson's out-of-this-world day continued, to add an insurance run for the Navy and Gold with a run-scoring groundout to second.

Ally Crakes earned the victory for Corban, pushing her record to 3-3 on the year. She pitched a complete game and racked up 10 strikeouts of Argo hitters. She also showed impressive control with zero walks allowed in her outing.

The loss went to Schweikert (0-4), who allowed five runs in four innings, while allowing four free passes. She allowed nine Corban base hits in the appearance.

Game two on the schedule was more visibly controlled by the Warriors, as they rattled off the game's first six runs. Three of the runs came in the very first frame, as the Navy and Gold rode a two-run single from Madison Wyllie and a single by Kaycee Arase to drive in a run as well.

The next three tallies occurred in the top of the third, as Morgan Gleeson had an RBI knock, followed by two run-scoring hit-by-pitches from Martinez and Johnson.

There was not another run scored until the bottom half of the fifth inning, when the Argos finally marked their first two tallies in the scorebook. Macy Mangold took home plate on a wild pitch, before Staats pushed Taylor Mathews across on a single to center for the second run of the frame.

Corban would get the final run of the contest on a wild pitch, as Arase came across to score, making the final score 7-2 in favor of Corban.

Kaylee Brown finished the complete game effort, pushing her record to 2-3 in the circle for the Navy and Gold, as she allowed just the two runs, and seven hits on the evening.

Brie Clifford pitched for 2.1 innings for the Argos, and gave up seven hits and six runs (two earned). She handed off the pitching duties to Khalyn Hageness in the third inning, and Hageness finished the rest of the bout. She allowed just one run in her 4.2 innings of work.

Johnson hit the ball well all day long for Corban, as she ended out her day 4-for-9 with a round-tripper and six runs batted in.

Providence's top performer at the dish was Elliot, who ended her day 3-for-4 with three runs driven in.

Corban (14-10, 9-2 CCC) returns to the field on Saturday for another doubleheader against the Argos. The Warriors will be shooting for their third series sweep of a Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) opponent this season.