HILLSBORO, Ore. – The bats fell silent for the Corban University Baseball team (3-4, 0-0) this afternoon in the final contest of a three-game series against the NCAA DIII Whitworth University Pirates (3-4, 0-0), falling 5-2 in their rubber match opportunity.
"We couldn't string much together offensively today," Warriors' Head Coach Ethan Bragg shared. "I thought we cleaned up things on the mound and on defense well, and we'll get back to work this week in practice."
Both starting pitchers managed to keep the offenses quiet through the first two innings of play, but the Pirates finally struck in the top of the third when a one-out triple by centerfielder Jacob Doughty was capitalized on the next at bat via a single from shortstop Austin Paul. The solo run by Whitworth would go on to be the only scoring in the first four innings of play.
The Pirates tacked on another pair of runs in the top of the fifth inning, as Paul singled with the bases loaded to score one run. The Warriors then traded two outs for a run on a groundball double play, allowing Whitworth to take a 3-0 lead into the sixth inning.
Corban finally jumped on the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth, as junior leftfielder Brian Landon came all the way around from second base to score on a wild pitch then an overthrow to third by Whitworth catcher Zach Tincher.
However, after the Warriors allowed a bases loaded scenario, first baseman Aaron Clogston made them pay for it with a single that scored another two runs in the top of the seventh, giving the Pirates a 5-1 lead late in this game.
The Navy and Gold were able to secure another unearned run in the home side of the eighth inning, as redshirt freshman pinch runner Joe Licari sprinted around the basepaths to eventually score on a sacrifice fly from junior centerfielder Brad Pellkofer.
While the Warriors were able to get the tying run to the plate in their last ditch effort of the ninth inning, a pop up ended the game and gave the Pirates a 2-1 series win.
Corban junior starting pitcher Preston Johnson pitched a seven-hit, three-run ball game before being pulled after 6.0 innings and 74 pitches, taking the loss in the process. Redshirt sophomore relief pitcher Trevor Szczepanek came into finish the final 3.0 innings of gameplay, allowing two runs on two hits and striking out three batters.
Landon was the top performer on the offensive side for Corban, tallying a hit and recording a run scored in a game where all the hitting was spread out over too many innings to amount to many runs.
Pirates' starting pitcher Hunter Dryden traded his usual position of shortstop to pitch a 6.2 inning gem against the Warriors, allowing one run on three hits and striking out a game-high nine batters. Relief pitcher Landon Shigeta pitched the final 2.1 innings to secure the victory for Dryden, also allowing three hits and one run.
Doughty smacked three hits and scored two runs in the Pirates' win, while Paul tallied two hits and two RBI to lead the visitors to a series win.
The Warriors will next compete in a scrimmage with fellow Salem school Chemeketa Community College this upcoming Thursday, hosted by the Storm at 2pm PST.
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