EUGENE, Ore. – Two separate starting pitcher performances from games one and two of today's doubleheader series opener for the Corban University Baseball team were spoiled by the Beacons of Bushnell University, as both the Warriors' game one and two starters pitched deep into 10-2 and 5-3 final scores where the Navy and Gold had countless opportunities to punch through the Beacons' defense and came up just short on each trip around the bases.
"I thought overall we pitched really well today," detailed Corban head coach Ryan Harris shortly after their doubleheader result. "Chris and Casey had fantastic outings on the mound, but I thought our defensive effort was lacking today. We were just missing a timely hit in both game one and game two. Game two was our best effort in a week and a half, as Josephan was fantastic on the mound. A couple miscues on defense but Josephan picked us up. We have an opportunity to build off of game two and bring that same approach tomorrow."
Game 1 – Bushnell 10, Corban 2
The Warriors (6-11, 2-6) saw two different one-run leads lost less than an inning later over the course of game one in Eugene, as they jumped on the board first via an RBI single by senior rightfielder Noah Owens up the middle of the diamond that scored junior second baseman Peyton Rickard.
After the Beacons (14-3, 6-2) tied the contest at 1-1 following the bottom of the third, redshirt junior catcher Joshua Miyazawa provided the Navy and Gold with another lead in the top of the fifth when he reached on a fielder's choice with the bases loaded, allowing senior first baseman Drew DeMasi to skirt home and put Corban up 2-1.
However, a three-run bottom of the fifth inning for Bushnell flipped the scoreboard back in the home team's favor and despite finding runners in scoring position, the Warriors were unable to muster up the offense they needed to complete a game one comeback despite 5.1 quality innings from senior starting pitcher Chris Shaffer who accepted his second loss on the season. Shaffer completed his outing with three earned runs against his average on six hits and two walks while picking up a pair of strikeouts. Senior reliever Casey Henderson allowed four runs, only one of which was earned in 2.1 frames, while junior relief pitcher Joshua Pedronan came in for the final out defensively for Corban yet allowed two runs off three hits and a walk.
Beacons' game one starter Austin Wolfe saw a possible loss turn into his second win of the season as he lasted the minimum 5.0 innings and allowed both of Corban's runs on three hits and a trio of strikeouts, while relief pitchers Loreto Siniscalchi and Alec Gums each tossed 2.0 innings of scoreless baseball apiece. Gums earned his third saved of the year after entering in the eighth inning while it was still a 4-2 ballgame.
Sophomore designated hitter Lucas Mertlich and senior leftfielder Fran Gross joined Owens and Rickard with base hits in the series opener, with Miyazawa joining Owens as the only Corban batters to pick up RBI at-bats.
Offensively for the Beacons, designated hitter J Wilson finished 3-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored, while second baseman Ethan Stacy, first baseman Cade Crist, and rightfielder Dylan Carson all clinched multi-hit performances.
Game 2 – Bushnell 5, Corban 3
While the Beacons were able to hang a quick three runs on Warriors' game two redshirt junior starter Josephan Gonzalez in the bottom of the first inning via a three-run homer, Gonzalez was able to settle in and allow just two more runs the remainder of the contest in what would eventually become a complete game effort from the Whitworth University transfer. The Corban offense hung single runs in the first, fifth, and sixth innings, yet the offense averaging over seven runs per game wasn't clicking enough to pick Gonzalez up a victory.
An incredible 13-strikeout performance in 8.0 innings worked by Gonzalez resulted in four earned runs on four hits and a pair of walks for Bushnell, resulting in the third loss of 2025 for the Selah, Washington native.
Beacons' starting pitcher Braden Proud earned his first win of the year after allowing three runs in 6.0 frames while two batters walked and six more earned hits before giving way to reliever Ethan Sachs who shut the Warriors' down for just three hits in 3.0 scoreless innings. Despite the loss, Corban hitters struck out just twice compared to the 13 Beacons' who whiffed against Gonzalez that cashed in on all by himself.
Miyazawa and junior shortstop Isaac Bateman each finished 3-for-4 from the top two spots in Coach Harris' lineup, with Bateman scoring two of the Warriors' three runs. Rickard picked up another two base knocks and scored the other run, while senior first baseman Nathaniel Gutierrez earned a hit and RBI in his first start of the weekend.
The only Beacon in game two with more than a single hit was centerfielder Will Hudler from the leadoff spot of the lineup, as he was 2-for-4 with an RBI and run scored, while Stacy was the big hitter in the bottom of the first who punched a three-run home run from the cleanup spot to put Bushnell ahead early.
The I-5 rivalry will spark back up tomorrow morning with first pitch of games three and four scheduled for 11am and 2pm, respectively.
Follow Corban Athletics:
Facebook l Twitter l Instagram l YouTube l Email
