LEWISTON, Idaho – It was a historic day for the Corban University baseball team, which clinched its first-ever trip to the NAIA National Tournament during day one of Saturday's Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) Tournament, presented by U.S. Bank. The Warriors won an unforgettable thriller against Oregon Tech in the first game of the day, outlasting the Owls (6-4) in 13 innings. Corban then fell at the hands of No. 5-ranked Lewis-Clark State College in the nightcap, 4-1.

With LC State defeating Oregon Tech in the afternoon matchup by a 21-1 margin, the Owls have been eliminated from the tournament, and Corban will advance to play the hometown Warriors tomorrow in the CCC Tournament Championship, needing two victories to claim the tournament crown.

Since LC State already possesses an automatic berth to the NAIA National Tournament, even if Corban finished as the tournament runner-up tomorrow, the CCC's automatic bid to the NAIA Championships would be deferred to the Navy and Gold, meaning Corban is ensured a place in the Opening Round regardless of tomorrow's result.

"What a day at the yard," said head coach Derek Legg. "I'm so happy with how the boys competed all day. I'm proud of them for earning their bid to the Opening Round. This team and these guys have made history and they will always remember that. We are excited to try to win our first conference tournament tomorrow, and look forward to competing against a really good team."

Corban's morning matchup against the Owls will go down as one of the most exciting games ever played by the program, as the two squads fought tooth-and-nail over the course of four hours and 12 minutes.

Two outstanding arms were on display in the battle, as CCC Pitcher of the Year Zack Simon toed the rubber for the Navy and Gold, and Trask Telesmanich—who tossed six innings of one-run ball against the Warriors just last weekend—was tabbed as the starter for OIT.

The two righties were as good as advertised, as both offenses struggled to string together hits against the electric arms.

After a scoreless first three innings, Corban drew first blood in the top of the fourth, when Estenio Sede shot a single up the middle to score Reese Fawley. That would be the game's only scoring until the bottom of the seventh, when the Owls plated a pair of runs via back-to-back RBI singles from Micah Jio and Dalton Daily.

Trailing 2-1 heading into the ninth, Corban sought to conjure some late magic. Sede led off the inning with an infield single, advancing to second on an errant throw from Micah Jio. Representing the tying run, he later stole third, and stood just 90 feet away from home plate with two outs in the inning.

Down to the final out, a passed ball from Owl catcher Brodie Maloney allowed Sede to score, tying the game at two.

That is where the score would remain for the next three innings, as each team labored through a tense series of extra innings. Jacob Bowser—who took the ball from Simon way back in the seventh inning—turned in a gritty effort in relief, shouldering the load for the Warrior bullpen and keeping the game tied.

Finally, Corban was able to break through in the 13^th, plating four runs to move in front. Chris Grayson sparked the rally by dunking a single down the right field line, and a couple of batters later, Keenan O'Brien brought him home with a clutch triple into the left-center alley.

A perfectly placed bunt from Aidan Bunn then brought home O'Brien, and Nate Cantonwine immediately followed that up with a bunt knock of his own.

Delivering some valuable insurance for the Warriors, Dakota Fingar brought both O'Brien and Cantonwine home with a two-run single, stretching Corban's lead to four. It was an unorthodox play, as Fingar actually hit the ball over the left-field fence, but was ruled out after touching first base for passing the runner ahead of him.

Oregon Tech attempted a comeback of its own in the bottom of the 13^th, scoring a couple of runs and putting the tying run on base, but Jacob Asa was able to come in and close the door on the nail-biting victory.

It was the third save of the year for Asa, while Bowser (2 ER, 5 K) earned the triumph after six and a third innings of relief. Simon also threw six and a third as the Navy and Gold starter, allowing just one earned run and striking out 10 Owls in the no-decision.

Offensively, Bunn (2-for-6), Fawley (2-for-5), Sede (2-for-6), and O'Brien (2-for-4) all registered multi-hit performances in the marathon triumph.

The Warriors then returned to the diamond in the evening, finishing out their day-one regimen with a duel against CCC Regular-Season Champion LC State.

Mason Shaw got the nod on the hill for Corban, tasked with tackling the NAIA's most dangerous offense. An RBI single from Brock Ephan helped LCSC plate a run in the first, but a fourth-inning solo blast from Fingar would later tie the ballgame at one.

Lewis-Clark State would get the lead right back in the bottom of the stanza courtesy of a two-run single from Riley Way, and the squad would round out its scoring in the bottom of the sixth on a leadoff long ball from Matt James.

Corban actually outhit the LC lineup in the defeat, with Justin Tow (3-for-4) and Sede (2-for-4) leading the charge.

The high-powered LCSC offense averages 11.29 runs a game, the most in the NAIA, and had scored double-digit runs in each of its past nine games prior to Saturday evening's contest. The last time the squad from Lewiston was held to less than five runs in a game was on March 7, which was in a game that was also against Corban.

The Navy and Gold will go toe-to-toe with LC State again tomorrow in the CCC Tournament Championship, needing two wins over the hometown team in order to claim the first-ever CCC Tournament title.

The action will kick off at 12 p.m. at Harris Field, with game two being played immediately afterwards, if necessary.