PORTLAND, Ore. – A dominant complete-game performance from defending Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) Pitcher of the Year Zack Simon helped the Corban University baseball team hand No. 3-ranked Lewis-Clark State College just its second loss of the season (through its first 36 games) in game one of Saturday's doubleheader at Joe Etzel Field. Corban earned a nail-biting 3-2 victory in the first half of the twin bill—ending LC's progam-record 28-game win streak—before dropping the second contest by a 15-3 final score.
When Corban needed a big-game performance from its ace, it got it in game one from Simon, who went the distance to help the Navy and Gold claim its first conference win of the year.
The righty scattered six hits and struck out eight, all while allowing just one earned run. With the win, his season ERA dips to 1.06, the fourth-lowest in the entire NAIA.
Corban drew first blood with situation baseball in the first inning, as Maxwell Jeffrey led off the game with a single to center, then Ryan Clay immediately followed that up with a solid piece of two-strike hitting, lofting a single into center field of his own.
That put runners on the corners for Estenio Sede, who brought home Jeffrey with a sacrifice fly.
That is where the score would stay until the top of the sixth, when Aidan Nagle struck for his third long ball of the first two games of the series, a solo shot to dead center field to tie the game.
Corban grabbed the momentum right back on a gritty at-bat from Kyle Clay, who battled for 10 pitches against LC State reliever Greg Blackman. On the 10th pitch of the at-bat, Clay hit an infield single up the middle, pulling LC shortstop Riley Way behind the second-base bag. Way tried to make a sparkling play to throw out Clay at first, but his throw was not in time. Ryan Clay started the play on second base, and he never stopped running, coming home to put the hometown team back in front.
Way knotted the score at two with an RBI single in the next half inning, but a brilliantly executed safety squeeze from Keenan O'Brien put the Navy and Gold ahead 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh.
Simon removed any tension in the final two stanzas, retiring six-straight LC batters to finish out his gutsy effort.
CLICK HERE to watch the final out of the thrilling win, which came courtesy of Simon's eighth strikeout of the day.
Corban jumped ahead to an early 3-1 advantage in game two, looking to ride the momentum in the second half of Saturday's action, helped along by some aggressive baserunning.
After the visitors struck first with a run in the top of the first, an RBI triple from Kyle Clay tied the game at one in Corban's half of the stanza. The Corban clean-up hitter ended the game with an impressive 3-for-4 effort from the dish.
Clay came home to score on some crafty baserunning from Brian Landon, who got hung up in a rundown between first and second, allowing him to come home.
Speedy freshman Scott Artzer turned in a similarly impressive baserunning play in the second, racing home on a throw from LC catcher Justin Mazzone to first base in the completion of a strikeout play in the dirt.
Unfortunately for Corban, the whole game changed in a costly fourth inning, when the hometown pitching staff handed out seven free passes to help LC bat around and score four runs without collecting a single hit. That was the start of 14 unanswered runs for the No. 3-ranked Warriors, as LC cruised to a 15-3 victory in game two to earn a doubleheader split.
Way (2-for-5, 2 R, 4 RBI, BB), Luke White (2-for-5, 2 R, 4 RBI, BB), and Zach Threlfall (3-for-4, 2 R) were at the center of LC's offensive success in game two.
Corban (14-16-1, 1-6 CCC) and LC State will wrap up their four-game set tomorrow at Joe Etzel Field, playing in a solo contest at 11 a.m.
Follow Corban Athletics:
Facebook l Twitter l Instagram l Snapchat l YouTube l Email
Download our App: iOS (iPhone/iPad) l Android
