Winsor & Warner Lead Corban to Victory Over Cavaliers of Concordia
LEWISTON, Idaho – Sophomore Trevor Winsor (Troutdale, Ore.) turned in a four-hit complete game performance to go along with junior Josh Warner's (Independence, Ore.) 2-for-3 performance with a run scored, as Corban's baseball team defeated fellow NAIA West Grouping member Concordia, 5-1, in Saturday's opener of the Regence BlueShield of Idaho Tournament at Harris Field.
In the third game of the Regence BlueShield of Idaho Tournament, Corban put the ball into the hand of Winsor who was making his first start on the mound wearing the navy and gold.
Winsor did not let down his teammate nor third-year head coach Nate Mayben, as the sophomore right-hander pitched a complete game and allowed a mere one earned run to go along with a game-high seven strikeouts.
After a scoreless opening three innings, Concordia plated its lone run of the day via a Jimmy Rudig home run to center field.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Corban scored a pair of runs when sophomore Taylor Stiles (Santa Maria, Calif.) led off with a single through the right side. The very next batter – freshman Steven Blum (Salem, Ore.) – doubled up the middle allowing senior pinch runner Matt Schmidt (Corvallis, Ore.) to advance to third. Sophomore Kyle Taylor (Clackamas, Ore.) brought home the Warriors’ first run via a ground out that scored Schmidt from third. During the next at-bat, Blum scored via a pass ball which put the Warriors, who were the designated home team, up by a single run (2-1).
One at-bat later, Corban scored three more runs on a pair of hits and one Cavalier error. With one out, Taylor walked before advancing to third on Warner’s double down the left field line. One batter later, sophomore Tony Salamone (Medford, Ore.) drove in the eventual game-winning run via a two-run double to right field that scored both Taylor and Warner. Following a Concordia pitching change, sophomore Nate Hiebert (Lebanon, Ore.) reached via a run-scoring fielder’s choice that allowed Salamone to score the game’s final run.
Over the final three innings, Concordia was held to a mere two hits – a seventh inning single and an eighth inning double – as Corban picked up its second straight win to open the 2009 season.
Senior Craig Spicer (Vancouver, Wash.), Stiles, and Warner each registered two hits to go along with Blum and Salamone’s one-hit performance each.
Concordia was led offensively by Rudig’s two-hit performance, while the Cavaliers’ Ian Miller went the opening 5.2 innings allowing five runs (three earned) on seven hits before giving way to Jarrod Castrejon, who pitched the final 2.1 innings and allowed a mere one Warrior hit.
With the win, Corban improves to 2-0 overall versus Concordia’s 1-1 early season mark. The Warriors are back in action on Sunday, February 15th, when they go head-to-head with the NAIA’s No. 1-ranked and tournament-host Lewis-Clark State beginning at 3:00 p.m. at Harris Field.