AURORA, Ore. – An undefeated Saturday afternoon is just what Corban University Baseball head coach Ryan Harris needed to conclude his second season as skipper of the Warriors, as the Navy and Gold put a metaphorical bow on the 2025 regular season with a pair of 6-3 and 9-5 victories over the Knights of Warner Pacific University for their fourth and fifth wins over WPU this calendar year.
"It was a bittersweet moment ending our season today," shared Coach Harris. "Seeing guys have their last games in a Warrior uniform is never easy, but to see them going out winning today, I couldn't be happier for them. We had some ups and downs this season, but we are building something special here. This group brought us closer to what we desire to have here at Corban."
Game 1 – Corban 6, Warner Pacific 3
After dropping game one yesterday via a comeback bid for the Knights (11-33, 10-27), the Warriors (14-36, 9-28) complete a come-from-behind victory of their own with a three-run top of the ninth inning to break a 3-3 tie. Up until the final inning of play, the Navy and Gold had earned both an RBI double and single from junior shortstop Isaac Bateman, followed by a sacrifice fly by senior third baseman Ryan Clay.
With three of the first four batters reaching base safely to lead off the ninth, junior centerfielder Chase Elliott blasted a two-run double to put Corban up a pair, while a bases loaded walk drawn by redshirt freshman designated hitter scored a third run to double up Warner Pac and hold on for a 6-3 victory.
In his final collegiate start, senior southpaw Chris Shaffer tossed a near complete game with 127 pitches tossed over 8.0 frames, holding Warner Pacific to a pair of earned runs on four hits and two walks while striking out a game-high ten batters. Junior reliever Tanner Martinez picked up the first two outs of the ninth before junior second baseman Peyton Rickard closed out the contest on the mound for his third save of the year.
Knights' starting pitcher Mason Deverna was tagged for three runs off five hits while walking seven batters and striking out six in 6.0 frames before giving way to reliever Kaden Hindman who would eventually take the losing decision after the Warriors scored three runs off him in the ninth off four hits and four walks.
Bateman, senior first baseman Nathaniel Gutierrez, and senior rightfielder Noah Owens all secured a pair of base hits offensively for Corban in game three of the four-game set, with Bateman and Elliott pacing the RBI count with two apiece.
WPU saw four hits spread out over four different batters, with three of the four, represented by first baseman Alex Nisbet, rightfielder Mitchell Thoma-Britt, and third baseman Trenten Lowe, all registering a single RBI.
Game 2 – Corban 9, Warner Pacific 5
Another back-and-forth affair in the season finale for the Warriors saw the lead swap sides of the scoreboard on four separate times before Corban finally claimed the final lead of the afternoon in the top of the fourth inning. In another senior's final collegiate baseball game, leftfielder Fran Gross blasted the go-ahead two-run homer to flip a 4-3 deficit into a 5-4 lead, which was immediately added to with a solo bomb off the bat of Clay, representing his 204th career hit and 20th career shot to leave the ballpark. Five frames later, the Navy and Gold emerged victorious one last time in 2025, 9-5.
Senior righthander Josephan Gonzalez took to the mound one final time and threw fireballs for six strikeouts and his third win of the year, allowing four runs off two hits and seven walks across 5.0 innings pitched. Senior reliever Sam Greenhalgh closed the curtains on his own career with just a single unearned run crossing in the sixth, while Martinez and redshirt sophomore Eddie Gould combined for the final 3.0 innings and shutout WPU across the bullpen's last combined outing of the season.
Warner Pac starting pitcher Connor Hale was charged with the loss after seven runs crossed home plate under his command off eight hits and three walks while managing four punchouts in 6.0 innings pitched, while the bullpen allowed a pair of unearned runs across the final 3.0 frames.
Redshirt sophomore catcher Jeremiah Pinkerton was the offensive sparkplug in the final contest at North Marion High School, finishing 3-for-5 while his courtesy runner, Desbiens, scored on all three trips across the basepaths. Gross and Clay both wrapped up their college careers with a pair of hits and multiple RBI to power Corban at the plate.
Lowe was 2-for-5 at the plate for the Knights with a pair of RBI, with Nisbet and Thoma-Britt once again representing the only other WPU batters to reach base safely via hits in game four of the weekend CCC series.
Clay concludes his historic four-year career as a Warrior with an astonishing number of top ten bests up and down the program all-time single season and career record books, as he finishes his collegiate baseball calling top four in at-bats, runs scored, hits, RBI, doubles, triples, home runs, total bases, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, walks, and stolen bases. His single season records from the best 50-game season he's ever had in 2025 will also include many of the aforementioned categories.
A five-win improvement from Coach Harris' first season as head coach to the second in terms of both overall and conference record has the program steadily moving in the right direction, as the 53-man roster will graduate 13 senior student-athletes this upcoming spring commencement and will also boast a 3.32 cumulative team GPA, one of the highest in program history.
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