EUGENE, Ore. – Redshirt senior starting pitcher Jack Kovanen was untouchable in his 5.0 innings to kick off the Corban University Baseball team's four-game series serving as the home team against Bushnell University on the Beacons' home field, yet his phenomenal start wasn't enough to pick up a game one victory after Bushnell broke through the Warriors' bullpen to clinch a 7-1 win in the opener, followed by a 5-3 Beacon victory in game two where the Navy and Gold fell behind and had to play from behind the remainder of the evening.
"In game one, we claimed an early lead and put up a lot of zeros on the board, then Bushnell took the lead on one swing and didn't look back after that," Warriors' head coach Ryan Harris explained. "Game two we pitched well, defended well, and in the final third of the game we were really starting to fight, just couldn't complete it offensively. Not the outcome we wanted, but our guys know how to respond from here."
A pair of quality starts from Kovanen and sophomore Brady Sprague weren't enough for the Warriors (11-21, 7-13) who dropped their eighth and ninth consecutive games after scoring just four runs across 18 innings. In addition to the offensive struggles, the Navy and Gold bullpen allowed nine of the 12 runs scored today by the Beacons (17-15, 9-10) following Kovanen and Sprague's departures, resulting in the late-game heroics for Bushnell's lineup. Bushnell failed to score a run until at least the fifth inning of both contests, with the Dubs leading game one for six complete innings before Beacs' Caleb Richter smashed a two-run go-ahead home run.
Only two Warriors had multi-hit outings in either contest, with senior catcher Knox Hubbard going 2-for-3 with the lone RBI in game one while junior designated hitter Lucas Mertlich finished 2-for-4 with a run scored in the nightcap matchup. Six other Corban batters registered at least one base hit in either contest, while redshirt junior relief pitcher Eddie Gould was the only member of the bullpen to not allow a run in both appearances.
Corban baseball will look to salvage the series tomorrow with a doubleheader sweep to force a series split, with games three and four scheduled for 11am and 2pm first pitch times back at Hamlin Sports Park, respectively.
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