KEIZER, Ore. – The Corban University baseball team fell behind early in each of its two games against Oregon Tech on Friday, but the Navy and Gold showed its resiliency in a pair of crucial wins to open up the two teams' pivotal Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) series. Corban took game one by a 12-8 final score, and then the Warriors rode a stellar effort from the bullpen to a 7-4 victory in game two.

"I'm proud of the team effort today," said head coach Derek Legg. "It was nice to see them compete for the entire day. We're looking forward to grinding again with the boys tomorrow."

CLICK HERE to watch Legg's video interview after the wins.

Oregon Tech struck first in game one, but it did so in a very unconventional manner. With runners at the corners and two outs, Alex Malcolm struck out swinging on a ball in the dirt, but the pitch ricocheted backed to the screen, allowing Malcolm to reach first and the first run of the game to score.

The visitors strung together a pair of bloop knocks to plate three more in the top of the third, extending their lead to four after two and a half.

Corban got two of those back in the next half inning, however, as Maxwell Jeffrey roped a clutch two-out single to left to plate the squad's first run of the game. The ball was misplayed by the Owl outfield, allowing Ryan Clay—who started the play as the runner at first—to race all the way home, as well.

In the fourth, Brian Landon lofted a fly ball down the left-field line that landed just inches inside the foul line. Estenio Sede scored all the way from first on the bloop double, pulling the Navy and Gold within one. Corban continued that offensive momentum with three more in the bottom of the fifth, two of which came on a opposite-field triple from Kyle Clay. Immediately after Clay's clutch knock, he was brought home on an RBI sac fly from Sede.

Landon hooked a run-scoring single through the right side for his second-straight RBI knock in the bottom of the sixth, and then Ryan Clay lofted an RBI sac fly to center field to make it an 8-4 lead later in the stanza. Two batters later, Kyle Clay ripped his second two-run triple of the game, extending the lead to six in the sixth.

On the mound, Shaw settled in nicely after the tumultuous start, retiring 12 of the last 13 batters he faced en route to his fourth win of the season.

Reese Fawley got in on the offensive outburst in the next inning, roping a line-drive homer over the left-field fence in the bottom of the seventh. After OIT scored four in the visitor half of the eighth, the Navy and Gold's scoring was rounded out when Ryan Clay came home to score on a wild pitch in the bottom of the stanza.

In game two, it was once again the Owls who struck first when Brodie Marino hit a run-scoring double into the right-center gap in the visiting team's first at-bats.

The Warriors once again prevented a shutdown inning for the Owls in the bottom half of the first, plating a pair of runs to take the lead. It was once again Kyle Clay at the center of it, as his RBI single tied the contest, and Reese Fawley's RBI sac fly put the hometown team ahead.

That lead wouldn't last long, however, as OIT plated runs in both the second and third to retake the upper hand.

An RBI fielder's choice off the bat of Kairos Torres-Umi evened the score at three in the fourth, and then the Warriors took the lead on a run-scoring groundout from Sede in the fifth. The next batter, Fawley, then grounded a Baltimore chop over the head of the third baseman Mitchel Swanson to give the hometown team a two-run advantage.

Some valuable insurance came in the bottom of the sixth, when Maxwell Jeffrey blasted an opposite-field double off the right-field fence to plate Nainoa Ka'ahanui; and then, after a run from the Owls in the eighth, Kyle Clay capped off his incredible day at the plate with an insurance run-scoring two-bagger in the home half of the frame.

Kyle Clay finished the day with six RBIs between the two games, CLICK HERE to hear his thoughts after the win.

The bullpen was the story in game two, however, as Ben Aguilera entered in relief of Preston Johnson with two runners on in the third. After Aguilera—who earned the win—escaped that jam with minimal damage and then tossed two more scoreless frames, Jaren Childs entered the game and tallied a hard-earned save with four stanzas of impressive work.

Aguilera and Childs combined to throw six and two-thirds innings of relief without surrendering an earned run. CLICK HERE to watch the duo's post-game interview.

Corban (19-18-1, 6-8 CCC) and Oregon Tech will return to the diamond at Volcanoes Stadium tomorrow, rounding out their four-game series with another doubleheader in Keizer. Due to forecasted rain in the morning, the games have been pushed back an hour to 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.