ATHERTON, Calif. – The Corban University baseball team opened the 2022 campaign this afternoon, winning the season opener by a final score of 9-1, before dropping the second game 2-0.

"It was great to get back on the field and compete today," said Corban head coach Derek Legg, "We had consistent energy and learned a lot about where we are at as a team. We are looking forward to another opportunity tomorrow."

The opening inning of the season couldn't have started much better for the Navy and Gold as the first five men in the order reached base via base hit or walk. An RBI single from Reese Fawley and bases loaded walk from Brian Landon provided the Warriors with a 2-0 advantage before they recorded their first out of the season. The inning continued with a Morgan Hostetler RBI-groundout and a perfectly executed first-and-third play to give the Warriors an early 4-0 lead after their first at-bats on the year.  

The Warriors continued to add on throughout the first four innings. A 2-RBI single from Landon in the third inning and Cale Thompson RBI single in the fourth blew the game open early. A Menlo error on a pickoff play provided the Warriors with two more runs, stretching their lead to 9-1 through 3 ½ innings of play.

That cushion proved to be enough for veteran Mason Shaw who drew the opening day nod on the mound. Shaw allowed just one earned run on two hits in his stellar 5.2 innings to start the campaign. It was a great performance from the right-hander as he earned his first win of the season and the Warriors first opening day victory since 2015.

After his solid work, Shaw turned the ball over to newcomer Giovanni Cervantes who finished out the contest for the Warriors in a solid relief outing, allowing just two hits over 3.1 innings to lock down win number one on the year. Cervantes was credited with his first career save in the contest.

The second game of the afternoon was a tough pill to swallow for the Navy and Gold. After a strong win in the season opener, the bats fell silent, and the defense coughed up two unearned runs allowing Menlo to steal a 2-0 victory in the nightcap.

The Warriors sent reigning CCC Pitcher of the Year, Zack Simon, to the hill while the Oaks countered with freshman Ryan Io.

It was the Oaks who struck first in game two, after back-to-back singles to start the game, an errant pickoff throw, followed by a sacrifice fly allowed the home squad to tally an unearned run and take a 1-0 advantage into the second inning.

From there, both teams starting pitchers were locked in as Simon allowed just one baserunner over the next three innings prior to his departure from the game. Io matched the Warriors ace pitch-for-pitch scattering just four hits across his five-shutout innings of work.

Trevor Szczepanek replaced Simon in the fifth inning and delivered two great innings of work out of the bullpen allowing just two hits over his two innings.

The Oaks tallied another unearned run in the fifth inning on a misplayed ball in right field that led to an eventual triple which was directly followed by an error at shortstop leading to the Oaks second unearned run of the day.

From there, Menlo turned the ball over to closer Ryan Inouye who sat down six of the seven men he faced to earn his first save of the year, sealing the 2-0 victory.

The Navy and Gold had a runner at second base just two times in game two, courtesy of two-out doubles by Morgan Hostetler in the second inning and Brad Pellkofer in the third, but the Warriors could not get the clutch hit they needed.

There were shades of positive and negative, as one might expect in a season opener, for Corban. The Warriors pitching staff allowed just one earned run on eight hits across their 15 innings of work.

Offensively, newcomers Cale Thompson, Brian Landon, and Brad Pellkofer delivered multi-hit days to start the season.