SPRINGFIELD, Ore. – While the offense is certainly alive and well for the Corban University Baseball team (4-11, 0-0), the pitching staff and defense have continued to struggle throughout the first quarter of the season, as the Warriors dropped games three and four of a four-game series this afternoon on the road against the Bushnell University Beacons (9-5, 0-0), who scored early and often to negate the offense that Corban was able to find intermittently.

"Bushnell controlled the momentum and energy much better than we did today, we have a lot of work to do this week and in practice as we continue to prepare for CCC play," Corban Head Coach Ethan Bragg shared earlier this evening.

Game 1 – Bushnell 8, Corban 5

It was all Beacons from the get-go in game one of the second doubleheader, as they scored eight of the first nine runs of the ball game to take a commanding 8-1 lead and never looked back. While the Warriors were able to cause some chaos in the top of the ninth inning, scoring a quartet of runs to pull within three, the damage had already been done to prevent the comeback bid at the Hamlin Sports Complex.

Junior starting pitcher Preston Johnson and junior relief pitcher Giovanni Cervantes were each roughed up for a grand total of eight runs runs off nine hits in 4.2 innings, while senior righty Alex Hakes and freshman Ryson Wa'alani tossed the remaining 3.1 innings to the sound of just one hit and one strikeout.

Beacons' starting pitcher Ethan Paulson nabbed his first win on the year via a four-hit, one-run performance in 5.0 frames, striking out six Corban batters along the way. Relief pitchers Trevor Hammond, Blake Stavros, and Caleb Watson closed out the game for Bushnell, with Watson picking up the save with just one out needed.

Sophomore right fielder Scott Artzer was the lone Warrior with double-digit hits, securing two base knocks and a run scored in four at-bats. Sophomore third baseman Santiago Gonzalez made the most of his short day, securing a hit and two runs late in the contest.

Three-different hitters for Bushnell accomplished what Artzer managed to pull off in game one, led by second baseman Jacob Stoner's 2-for-2 afternoon with two runs scored and an RBI.

Game 2 – Bushnell 11, Corban 6

The late inning rally clearly had an effect on the Corban offense leading into the final game of their four-game series, as the momentum led to a pair of first inning runs on a single from freshman designated hitter Roger Viloria that set up sophomore second baseman Elijah Maris with a potential steal of home plate the next at-bat, which he swiftly accomplished with ease.

However, the Beacons caught wind of the Warriors' efforts and quickly put them to rest, scoring the next eight runs and once again leading to an uphill battle for the Navy and Gold offense, which proved to be too tall of a task in the road finale.

Senior catcher Keenan O'Brien ripped his first hit of the day in the top of the seventh inning deep over the left centerfield fence line to pull Corban to within four-runs, trailing 10-6, but the Beacons' pitching staff was able to keep the Warriors off the board for the remainder of the afternoon and hand them their third-straight series loss.

Sophomore starting pitcher Hayden Van Acker lasted just 3.0 innings today, allowing seven runs on 10 hits, striking out four hitters and walking another. Redshirt sophomore Trevor Szczepanek, Hakes, and junior right-hander James Arend closed out the final 6.0 frames by allowing four runs off six hits, striking out nine batters in an impressive showing for the bullpen late in this contest.

Bushnell starter Adam Sabatino picked up the win by tossing 5.0 innings and seeing four runs and three hits go against his track record, striking out a batter, walking another, and hitting a game-high three Corban batters. The relief pitching duo of Jayden Soriano and Colby Knutzen finished out the Beacons' series win in 4.0 innings, 2.0 apiece, with Soriano allowing two runs on two hits while Knutzen pitched a perfect six-up, six-down, with half of his outs resulting in punchouts.

O'Brien's seventh inning blast was the major highlight in an otherwise small-ball offensive game, as Maris scored a pair of runs on one hit and Gonzalez reached base once again on a base knock in his first start of the year.

Beacon's shortstop Ethan Stacy tallied an impressive three hits, two RBI, and five runs scored to be responsible for over half of Bushnell's offense in the second contest played today, with five other teammates adding multi-hit games to their resumes this afternoon.

The Corban Baseball team will make up their rained-out single game at NCAA DIII Linfield University (4-5, 2-1) this upcoming Wednesday, March 8th, in McMinnville, Oregon with a 2pm PST first pitch.

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