SALEM, Ore. – With a pair of wins sitting in front of the Corban University Softball team ripe for the picking this afternoon at Warrior Field, untimely fielding errors resulted in six of the eight runs scored on the day by Bushnell University to cross home plate unearned, as the Warriors earned phenomenal starting efforts out of their pitching staff only to allow the Beacons to instead pick up their second Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) sweep of 2025 season via 3-2 and 5-1 final scores, the first of which went into extra innings. Every go-ahead run scored by Bushnell today was plated unearned, as eight errors on defense through 15 innings played cost the Navy and Gold two home victories over their I-5 rivals.
"Really happy with our pitching today, both games our pitchers did outstanding, we just came up short on run production but tomorrow is a new day back on our home field," Corban head coach Jeff Covalt shared earlier this evening.
Game 1 – Bushnell 3, Corban 2 (8 Innings)
In their first matchup of the 2025 season, the Warriors (2-33, 1-19) and Beacons (10-24, 5-15) took to the diamond on a beautiful spring day in the Willamette Valley and put together a pair of tightknit contests for the nearly 100 fans in attendance at the foot of Corban's campus, with Bushnell scoring the first two runs of the series' opener on a second inning RBI-single to score an unearned run and the only earned run of the contest in the third represented by a sacrifice fly.
In the bottom of the fifth, an absolutely wild play where the Beacs registered two separate outs happened at home plate despite allowing a run back to the Navy and Gold, as Warriors' junior shortstop Isabel Carattini laid down a squeeze bunt resulting in one out at home, then as Carattini attempted to take second base, senior second baseman Alexis Figueroa sprinted home from third and scored after the Bushnell catcher couldn't handle the throwback by the shortstop. Then in an attempt to knot the contest up at 2-all, Carattini tried to score with the ball halfway between home plate and the backstop for a "little league home run", yet the Beacons were able to recover on defense and prevent a second run from scoring in the same at-bat.
Both pitching staffs settled in for the sixth inning to send Corban into the bottom of the seventh with a 2-1 deficit, and after two quick outs, a series' opening victory looked grim for the Warriors. However, Carattini's second base hit of the ballgame progressed the contest further and with junior centerfielder Regan McDaniel reaching via a fielding error in the next at-bat, junior rightfielder Gianna Redman singled into no man's land in shallow right centerfield, allowing Carattini to score and send the conference rivals to extra innings.
Yet another unearned run for the Beacons crossed in the top of the eighth after a two-out groundball was booted, resulting in another must-score scenario for Corban in their own offensive half of the eighth. The Warriors were able to get the tying run to second base, but the magic fell short in their first extra inning contest of the year.
A phenomenal complete game effort by true freshman starting pitcher Miranda Scovil, who allowed just one earned run on five hits and a career-high 12 strikeouts, fell short of her second-straight winning decision as the Corban offense mustered a pair of unearned runs. Bushnell starter Sara Martin lasted 4.2 innings in a no decision, while reliever Emily Cole pitched the final 3.1 frames to earn the win despite allowing the game-tying run in the seventh. Both Martin and Cole permitted a pair of hits under their command and three strikeouts and an unearned run apiece.
Carattini led the Corban offense with two of the team's four base knocks, with Redman and freshman first baseman Hannah Griffith each reaching base safely with hits as well. Redman picked up another RBI on the season while Carattini and Figueroa scored the Warriors' two runs.
A 2-for-3 outing for Beacons' first baseman Riley Peeler led the Bushnell attack at the plate, with third baseman Ashlyn Martin and rightfielder Marina Castaneda both clinching a single hit and RBI.
Game 2 – Bushnell 5, Corban 1
The only other earned runs of the entire day came in the top of the second and bottom of the fourth innings for the Beacons and Warriors, as Bushnell capitalized on a leadoff double and scored two at-bats later on an RBI-groundout, while Carattini came through with runners in scoring position once again to score freshman third baseman Regan Rasmussen and eventually send both programs into the seventh in a 1-1 ballgame.
The error bug once again bit Corban in the top of the seventh, as junior starting pitcher Vanesa Quinones induced two outs to start the frame a runner on second and rather than head to the bottom of the seventh with a walk-off in mind, back-to-back fielding errors allowed the inning to progress, and four unearned runs would cross the plate for Bushnell.
A leadoff walk to start the seventh by none other than Carattini was the only baserunner to reach against Cole in her first start of the weekend, as the Beacon picked up her second win of the day by tossing a four-hit complete game effort with eight punchouts. Quinones was nearly unhittable through the first 6.0 innings, but her defense didn't allow her to complete the seventh with just a single earned run against her average on five hits and five strikeouts. Junior relief pitcher Kate Banks secured the final out on defense for Corban via strikeout.
Rasmussen was the lone multi-hit performer for either squad in game two, scoring the team's only run along the way along with Carattini and junior leftfielder Josie Landis picking up base hits.
A two-RBI outing for Martin powered Bushnell to the day one sweep, with five other Beacs securing base hits against the outstanding effort from Quinones and Banks.
The Navy and Gold will look to shake off today's losses overnight and earn a series split tomorrow back at Warrior Field, with first pitches scheduled for 1/3pm.
Follow Corban Athletics:
Facebook l Twitter l Instagram l YouTube l Email
