Junior Brittany Wagner registered her third complete game of the season in helping lead Corban to an afternoon sweep over conference rival Northwest Christian.
Corban Posts 20-Win Season With Sweep of NCU
BOX SCORES – GAME #1 | GAME #2
SALEM, Ore. – Corban's softball team swept conference rival Northwest Christian, 4-1 & 5-3, Tuesday at Warrior Field, as the Warriors earned their 20th win of the year and became the first team in program history with back-to-back 20-win seasons.
Senior Makenzie Marchbanks (Sweet Home, Ore.) earned her team-leading ninth win of the season going the distance in the opener allowing one earned run on four hits to go along with a game-high five strikeouts, while junior Brittany Wagner (Oregon City, Ore.) picked up her fifth win of the season in complete game fashion allowing three earned runs on seven hits with a game-high three K's.
Junior Emma Winckler (Eltopia, Wash.) went a combined 4-for-7 at the plate with two runs batted in, while sophomore Tamara Feb (Oregon City, Ore.) was a combined 3-for-6 with two RBI and her fourth home run of the season in Game #1. Freshman Lounette Jackson (Escalon, Calif.) belted her second home run of the season in the opener that would turn out to be the game-winning RBI, while Winckler drove in the game-winning run in the finale.
GAME #1 – CORBAN 4, NORTHWEST CHRISTIAN 1
In the opener, Northwest Christian would get on the board early when the visiting Beacons plated their lone run in the first inning via a bases loaded walk to Brooke Davis that allowed Dani Gehrke to score and gave NCU a 1-0 lead.
Corban would not get on the board until the bottom of the fourth inning when Feb belted her fourth home run of the season via a one-out shot to straight away center field that knotted the game at 1-all.
One inning later, Jackson led off the bottom of fifth inning with her second home run of the year that sailed over the right field fence for a one-run Warrior lead (2-1). Back-to-back Corban hits followed by a fly out and fielder's choice would put runners on first and third with the bat in Feb's hand, as the second-year Warrior ripped a double to right field that scored junior Abbie Pynch (Stayton, Ore.) and extended Corban's lead to 3-1. Winckler would cap the game's scoring with a RBI single to left field that scored sophomore Rachel Conard (Merlin, Ore.) for a 4-1 Warrior lead.
Over the final two innings, Northwest Christian could only muster a single up the middle by Ally Mittleider with Corban earning its seventh straight win over the Beacons by the final score of 4-1.
Feb, Winckler, and sophomore Liane DeHart (Kent, Wash.) all registered two hits with Marchbanks going the distance for her team-leading 13th complete game of the season.
Northwest Christian would get a 1-for-2 showing from Mittleider, while Davis went the distance in the circle for the Beacons allowing four earned runs on nine hits with four strikeouts.
GAME #2 – CORBAN 5, NORTHWEST CHRISTIAN 3
The finale would begin as a pitcher's dual with neither team scoring over the opening four-plus inning, as Corban finally got on the board in the bottom of the fifth inning when DeHart and sophomore Stephanie Nippert (Rocklin, Calif.) opened with back-to-back singles. After DeHart was caught attempting to steal third, Feb walked before Winkler drove in the game-winning run via a single to left field that scored Nippert. Freshman Courtney Castronovo (Salem, Ore.) would then rope a double to right field that allowed Feb and Winckler to score handing the host Warriors a three-run lead (3-0) after five innings of play.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Corban would added a pair of much-needed insurance runs on a Conard double that allowed Nippert and Winckler to score the Warriors' fourth and fifth runs of the game pushing their lead to 5-0.
Northwest Christian would finally get on the board in the top of the seventh inning when Chelsea Hannon led off with a single down the right field line before advancing to second on a ground out. One batter later, Hannon would come home on a Megan Mazanec single through the left side before Mittleider belted her second home run of the season over the center field fence to pull the Beacons within two runs (5-3). Fortunately for the Warriors, Wagner would get NCU's final hitter to pop out to second ending the game with Corban on top by two runs.
Nippert would led the Warriors' offense with a 3-for-4 performance, while Pynch, DeHart, and Winckler each registered two hits in the finale. Wagner would give up seven hits without walking any batters en route to picking up her second win this year over Northwest Christian.
The visiting Beacons were led offensively by Mazanec's 2-for-3 effort that included a run scored and one RBI, while Becca Lillegard went the opening 4.0 innings allowing six hits before turning the ball over to a pair of NCU relievers – Kalyssa Koontz and Jenna Royce. Koontz would suffer the loss allowing three earned runs on four hits over 1.0 inning of work.
With today's sweep, Corban extends it winning streak to five games improving to 20-13 overall and 12-6 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play. Meanwhile, Northwest Christian falls to 9-23 overall and 3-15 in league games. The Warriors will be back in action on Friday, April 22nd, against the NAIA's No. 17-ranked Owls of Oregon Tech beginning at 2:00 p.m. on Warrior Field in Salem.