KEIZER, Ore. – The Corban University Baseball team completed their four-game Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) series this afternoon with (RV) University of British Columbia, where the Thunderbirds took advantage of the Monday morning wind blowing out to left centerfield and some fielding errors by the Warriors by blasting three more homers on the week and outlasting Corban 9-5 at Volcanoes Stadium.
"Worked through a competitive baseball game today," Corban head coach Ryan Harris stated earlier this afternoon. "Had some great opportunities in the third and in the fifth to put up a crooked number and only scored one. In the middle innings, we had one bad inning defensively that hurt us. Still very proud of the effort the team had today."
Despite allowing a first-inning run to the Thunderbirds (19-9, 14-3), the Warriors (6-22, 2-15) utilized a strong start offensively in the second to flip the scoreboard into a one-run lead after junior shortstop Isaac Bateman tripled to kick off the frame and scored one an RBI single by junior first baseman Peyton Rickard. Rickard would then score on a sacrifice fly off the bat of senior rightfielder Noah Owens to conclude the inning.
Corban added another run in the bottom of the third when Rickard drove a sacrifice fly of his own to leftfield, just far enough for junior courtesy runner Michon Cole to sprint home from third base.
However, a two-out solo homer from UBC in the fourth was the start of an 8-0 run by the T-Birds, as they tied the game in the fifth and held a 9-3 lead following the sixth inning, only giving the Navy and Gold three innings if they wanted to complete the comeback. While Bateman and Rickard did secure RBI singles in the seventh and ninth innings, respectively, the remainder of the Corban offense was unable to forge their way to a home comeback.
While senior starting pitcher Sam Greenhalgh was able to keep British Columbia off the scoreboard for the most part over his first four innings, the fifth proved to be the straw that broke the camel's back, leading to an eight-run, eight-hit, and three-walk outing for Greenhalgh with three strikeouts. Junior reliever Jackson Young allowed juts a solo homer over 3.2 innings with five hits and two walks issued alongside two strikeouts, while true freshman relief pitcher John Brabb went 0.2 innings of scoreless baseball.
Thunderbirds' starting pitcher Daniel Orfaly went the minimum 5.0 innings needed to pick up his third win on the year, as he allowed three runs off four hits while walking five Corban batters along the way with four punchouts. Reliever Owen McConnell went 3.0 frames with a trio of strikeouts, while relief pitcher Alex Lee closed out the contest in the ninth, with both McConnell and Lee allowing an earned run apiece.
Bateman powered the Warriors' offense with a 3-for-5 outing in the series finale, logging a run scored and an RBI from the cleanup spot of Coach Harris' lineup. Rickard secured a two-hit, three RBI afternoon while senior third baseman Ryan Clay continued to rake at the plate with two more hits and a run scored.
Five different T-Birds had two hits apiece for the visiting program, with nine-hole hitter and centerfielder Kaden Zarowny paving the way with both of his hits clearing the ballpark fence to earn three RBI and two runs scored. Third baseman Aaron Marsh completed his four-game tear with two hits, two runs scored, and an RBI.
Corban baseball will look to break their losing streak this upcoming weekend as they travel to The College of Idaho (14-16, 4-13) for a four-game conference series beginning on Friday at 1/4pm MT.
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