LA GRANDE, Ore. – A pair of one-run victories is how the Corban University Baseball team concluded their weekend series on the road against Eastern Oregon University, as the Warriors battled back-and-forth with the Mountaineers for 18 total innings and exchanged leads all day long, eventually coming out on the right side of 8-7 and 16-15 wins at Optimist Field

"Our offense came out and dominated all day long," gloated Corban head coach Ryan Harris regarding the 24 runs scored in 18 innings by his lineup. "It was awesome to see how these guys responded and never gave up. Jackson pitched really well, gave us everything he had, and we had strong closing efforts from Casey and Peyton to come in and shut the door in both games."

Game 1 – Corban 8, Eastern Oregon 7

After sleeping off a doubleheader sweep at the hands of the host Mounties (11-30, 7-22) from yesterday overnight, the Warriors (12-29, 7-22) responded with authority in games three and four of their weekend series, but not before EOU jumped out to a 5-0 lead over the first two innings via a solo homer, a bases-clearing double, and an RBI-single.

However, Corban clapped back in the top of the third with five runs of their own, as senior designated hitter Drew DeMasi singled to right to score junior centerfielder Chase Elliott, junior second baseman Peyton Rickard doubled down the right field line to score DeMasi, then junior shortstop Isaac Bateman and redshirt junior catcher Joshua Miyazawa blasted two-run and solo home runs, respectively, to erase their five-run deficit.

The very next frame, senior rightfielder Noah Owens pelted a go-ahead solo bomb of his own give the Navy and Gold a short-lived 6-5 lead, as an Eastern Oregon sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth knotted the game back up at 6-all.

With Rickard at first and two outs in the top of the eighth, sophomore leftfielder Lucas Mertlich gave Corban their final lead of the day, as he soared a pitch deep to right field for the Warriors' fourth home run of the game for an 8-6 lead.

In the bottom of the eighth, the first four Mounties reached base on a walk, single, single, and bases-loaded walk to pull within a run, but Coach Harris turned to junior relief pitcher Casey Henderson in the biggest situation of his bullpen career at Corban with the bases loaded and no outs. Henderson doubled down and forced a groundball double play at home plate and first to prevent a run and gain two quick outs before striking out EOU's leadoff hitter to keep the Warriors' lead intact. He would later strike out the last two batters of the contest with the tying run at second base to earn his first save of the season and lock up his team's first win of the weekend.

Junior starting pitcher Jackson Young had a rough first inning but settled in to go 6.0 frames with five of his six runs allowed in the first inning alone, with nine hits against his season statistics along with a walk and a Mountie strikeout. Senior relief pitcher Sam Greenhalgh earned his second win of the year after pitching through the seventh after Mertlich put the Warriors ahead in the eighth, giving way to Henderson who shut EOU down for the remainder of the matchup.

Three different Eastern Oregon pitchers tossed 3.0 innings apiece, with reliever Jake Herrera taking the loss. The trio of Mountaineers punched out ten Warriors collectively across nine innings, with reliever Zakaia Michaels putting together the best outing with four of the ten strikeouts and a single base hit allowed.

Mertlich finished game one 3-for-4 at the plate with two RBI and a run scored to lead the Corban offense, with Rickard, Elliott, and senior third baseman Ryan Clay all cashing in on two hits apiece. Bateman tied Mertlich for the team-high RBI total with two of his own.

A quartet of EOU batters finished with multi-hit outings in game one, with leftfielder Greyson McDaniel scoring a game-high three runs while third baseman Easton Espinoza hit the bases-clearing double for three RBI to lead all hitters.

Game 2 – Corban 16, Eastern Oregon 15

An offensive battle for the ages at the cost of both team's bullpens and ERAs eventually fell Corban's way following eight lead changes and three ties forced in-between innings of an emotional rollercoaster matchup. Both starting pitchers weren't able to escape their respective third frames where at least one run was scored every half inning until the bottom of the fifth, with 31 combined runs scored between the two teams.

Knotted at 15-all in the top of the eighth, Miyazawa reached on an infield single with senior rightfielder Fran Gross scoring from third in the process, allowing Coach Harris to turn to Rickard for a rare pitching appearance from his starting second baseman. After EOU scored in six of the previous seven innings, Rickard allowed just a single base hit across both the eighth and ninth innings with a pair of strikeouts to earn his second save of the 2025 season.

Sophomore starter Avery Williamson and junior reliever Tanner Martinez tossed the first 6.0 innings and allowed a combined 11 earned runs off 13 hits, six walks, and five strikeouts, with graduate student relief pitcher Tanner Boe entering for the seventh and picking up his first winning decision of the year in the process as Rickard wrapped his victory.

All but one of the six Mounties from the series finale pitching staff allowed at least one run to the Corban offense, with relief pitcher Joey Weissenfels credited with the loss after he was unable to handle Miyazawa's infield single that put the Warriors back in the driver's seat. Reliever Trevor Baker tossed a perfect top of the ninth with a single punchout.

DeMasi demolished a grand slam to lead the Navy and Gold offense in game two with four hits, six RBI, and four runs scored to lead every position player at the plate. Rickard tallied four RBI on two hits, while Mertlich had another productive outing with three hits, three RBI and a run scored.

The top of the Mountaineers' lineup was a combined 7-for-12 with seven RBI and seven runs scored, while the remainder of Eastern Oregon's platoon finished with eight hits across 29 plate appearances.

The three-week road trip to end the 2025 regular season continues into next Tuesday when Corban baseball battles NCAA DIII Willamette University (10-16) in their non-conference series finale, ironically on the Warriors' home turf of Volcanoes Stadium where they will represent the visiting squad.

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