Corban senior Darren Johnson went 2-for-4 at the plate, while making numerous sensational plays in the field at third base.
Warrior Trio Leads Corban Against No. 1-Ranked Lewis-Clark State
MCMINNVILLE, Ore. – Senior Daniel Flores (San Jose, Calif.), senior Darren Johnson (Vancouver, Wash.), and junior Craig Spicer (Vancouver, Wash.) each recorded a pair of hits, as Corban's baseball team fell to the NAIA's No. 1-ranked Lewis-Clark State, 12-1, in the finale Saturday at Roy Helser Field on the campus of Linfield College.
Despite allowing the nation's top-ranked team to score four runs on three hits in the first inning, Corban's junior starter Brandon Wolters (Gresham, Ore.) settled down and held the visiting Warriors without another run until the top of the fourth inning.
In the fourth frame, Lewis-Clark State used a triple by Brent Wyatt before Paul Martin was hit by a pitch. Josh Ashenbrenner loaded the bases via another hit by pitch before Kyle Greene brought Wyatt home via a sacrifice fly to left field. The very next batter -- Brian Ward -- drove in L-C State's sixth run of the game via a single through the left side that scored Martin from second.
Two innings later, LCSC's Travis Georguis put another two runs on the board via his first home run of the season -- a blast over the left center field wall -- that also plated Greene, who led off the inning with a double to left center.
Lewis-Clark State put another run on the board in the seventh inning via a Mike Rivera double to left field that scored Brian Bollwitt from second base.
After falling behind 9-0, Corban finally got on the board in the bottom of the eighth inning. Senior Jamie McGraw (Gaston, Ore.) singled up the middle with one out for his lone hit of the afternoon to get the run-scoring inning started. Following a Corban strike out, Spicer doubled to center field to bring McGraw home just ahead of the throw from first base for the host Warriors' lone run of the ball game.
Lewis-Clark State capped the game's scoring with three runs in the ninth inning before LCSC's third pitcher of the day -- Brian Bird -- got the final three outs to preserve the victory.
Offensively for Corban, the aforementioned trio each went 2-for-4 at the plate with Spicer recording the Warriors' lone RBI. McGraw recorded Corban's only other hit and scored the Warriors' lone run of the afternoon.
Pitching-wise for Corban, Wolters began the game and went the first 6.0 innings allowing eight runs (six earned) on nine hits before turning the ball over to freshman reliever Kyle Lamson (Medford, Ore.) for the game's final three innings.
Lewis-Clark State's offense was led by Wyatt and Greene, who each went a perfect 2-for-2 at the plate. Meanwhile, Georguis and Kepa Wong tallied a pair of hits each with Georguis driving home four runs to go along with Greene's three RBIs.
On the mound, LCSC's Ryan Wood took the ball to begin for the Warriors going the first 5.0 innings, while allowing zero runs on one hit before turning the ball over the Kevin Camacho. Camacho pitched 3.0 innings, allowing one earned run on six hits before allowing Bird to take the hill for the final inning.
With the loss, Corban falls to 5-11 on the season while Lewis-Clark State moves to 21-2 overall. The Warriors are next in action on Tuesday, March 18th, when Corban travels north to Forest Grove to take on NCAA Division III member Pacific (Ore.) beginning at 6:00 p.m. at the brand-new Chuck Bafaro Stadium.