GLENDALE, Ore. – An NAIA Top Ten upset was in the making late in today's contest for the Corban University Men's Wrestling team, yet the Warriors were unable to hold off No. 10-ranked Arizona Christian University on the Firestorm's home field with runs scored in both the bottom of the ninth and tenth innings to secure the eventual walk-off hit they needed to clinch the series sweep. Despite riding a four-game losing skid, the Navy and Gold held plenty of opportunities in games one and three to depart from Glendale with a top ten victory yet will instead head back to the Willamette Valley with some hard-fought losses to be mulled over.
"Today was a great baseball game to be a part of," Corban head coach Ryan Harris shared despite the loss. "We struggled early getting to their starter who had all his pitches working. We got into their bullpen and had some guys come off the bench with clutch at-bats to get the momentum back on our side. We had an opportunity to close it up but allowed them to tie it up. In extras, we had a shot to retake the lead and came up short. ACU just came through with a clutch at-bat of their own. A tough loss, but between game one and three, we had opportunities to win games against a top ten team. We will get back to work and build from here."
Just like in games one and two of their three games series, the Firestorm (8-3) jumped out to a multi-run lead with a single run in the third and three more in the fifth, but senior third baseman Ryan Clay put a stop to ACU's scoring run with a solo bomb to right field in the top of the sixth inning for Corban (3-4).
The very next inning, sophomore rightfielder Lucas Mertlich sent his own deep shot over the centerfield fence to cut the Warriors' deficit to a pair of runs, which was again cut in half later the same frame when senior pinch hitter Nathanial Gutierrez drove a pitch deep enough to score junior centerfielder Chase Elliott from third on a sacrifice flyball.
Fireworks were on full display for the Navy and Gold to start the eighth inning, as the Warriors completed their four-run comeback with an absolute moonshot by Clay over the rightfield fence that scored junior second baseman Peyton Rickard and flipped a 4-3 deficit into a 5-4 lead with six outs remaining.
However, in the bottom of the ninth inning, back-to-back walks to start the frame followed by a wild pitch and intentional walk resulted in a bases loaded scenario for Arizona Christian with nobody out in the frame. The Warriors then traded a run for two outs with a fielder's choice double play, allowing ACU to force extra innings.
Corban held an opportunity to retake their lead with two outs and a runner on third in the top of the tenth, yet a timely strikeout for the Firestorm's bullpen allowed the home team to enter their offensive half of the tenth with a chance to walk-off in a 5-5 ballgame. Three batters later, Arizona Christian clinched the series sweep with a three-run homer to left centerfield.
Warriors' junior starting pitcher Jackson Young completed his second outing of 2025 with 4.1 innings pitched and allowed four runs on two hits and struck out a pair of ACU student-athletes. Sophomore Avery Williamson, the team's number four starter, came in on relief today for Coach Harris and provided him with 4.2 innings and just two runs allowed via three hits and another two strikeouts.
Defensively for ACU, the Firestorm utilized five different arms to get them to extra innings, where reliever R'Mani Adams held the Navy and Gold at bay to pick up the victory.
Clay finished his afternoon with a 4-for-4 performance at the play, responsible for three RBI and two runs scored in one of his most dominant outings in his Corban career. Mertlich was the only other Warrior with a multi-hit outing with a pair of hits, an RBI, and a run scored.
The back half of Arizona Christian's lineup did a majority of the heavy lifting with catcher Eastham and shortstop Beckworth each securing a pair of hits, with Beckworth clinching the walk-off home run where all three of his RBI came from.
The Warriors will return to Salem for a single game against NCAA DIII Pacific University (0-0) next Friday, February 14th at 4pm on the turf at Volcanoes Stadium.
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