Cavs, Warriors Split Pair of Pitchers' Duels
BOX SCORES : Game 1 I Game 2
PORTLAND—So much for the big bats.
The Concordia and Corban softball teams, the two biggest power-hitting teams in the Cascade Collegiate Conference, split a pair of pitchers’ duels on Saturday, putting both 3-1 in the CCC.
The split also moved the Cavs to 17-6 overall this season, and put the No. 17-ranked Warriors at 13-5 overall.
The Cavs shut out the Warriors, 3-0, to win the second game, after Corban took the first game, 2-1, with first-team NAIA All-American Stephanie Nippert providing both of her team’s runs.
Both teams will return to action next weekend when the Cavs travel to face No. 9 Oregon Tech and Southern Oregon, while Corban hosts The College of Idaho and Eastern Oregon. The Cavs will open the weekend at No. 9 Oregon Tech on Friday, March 15, while Corban will open against The College of Idaho on the same day. Both teams will start their Friday doubleheaders at 2 p.m.
Game 1—No. 17 Corban 2, Concordia 1
Starting pitchers Ashley Suter, for Concordia, and Jessica Slate, for Corban, dominated from the circle in the first game, holding the CCC’s top two offensive teams to just seven hits combined.
Fortunately for Slate, she had Stephanie Nippert, the CCC Player of the Year the last two seasons, on her team, and Nippert proved her worth early. Nippert homered to left field with two outs in the top of the first inning, putting the Warriors up 1-0 early.
The Cavs opted to intentionally walk Nippert the other three times she came up in the game after that. The strategy worked the first time the Cavs used it as Suter struck out three straight Corban batters after walking Nippert and Rachel Conard to lead off the top of the fourth. The Cavs tied things in the bottom half of that inning, too, when freshman Taylor Copher led off the inning with a double, moved over on a ground out, then came home on a sacrifice fly from Laura Luther.
The game stayed tied 1-1 after that, until Nippert came up to bat in the sixth and the Cavs tried to pitch around her once again. Nippert and Conard both walked to lead off the inning for the Warriors, giving the Cavs the same situation they got out of in the top of fourth. This time, however, Corban’s Erica Fitzgerald followed with a sacrifice bunt, moving Nippert and Conard in scoring position. Nippert then came home during the next at bat when Courtney Castronovo hit a sacrifice fly to left. The Cavs got out of the inning when Suter struck out the next batter, but Nippert’s second score of the game would prove decisive.
The Cavs had two more turns at bat after Nippert scored for a second time, but could not get a runner on in either inning.
Nippert finished the game 1-for-1 with a home run, two runs scored and three walks.
Outside of Nippert, pitching dominated the game with both starters going all seven innings for their respective teams.
Suter, though she picked up the loss, was dominant for the Cavs as she finished with 12 strikeouts in her seven innings pitched, the third time this season Suter has had double-digit strikeouts in a game.
Slate, meanwhile, gave up her first earned run of the season on Friday, but stopped at one in leading the Warriors to victory from the circle. Slate finished the game with five strikeouts while only giving up four hits and a walk to the Cavs.
Game 2—Concordia 3, Corban 0
Both teams continued the hot pitching in the second game with the Cavs getting the better end of things this time as they shut out Corban, 3-0. The shutout win was the Cavs’ first shutout of Corban since the Cavs beat the Warriors 1-0 back on April 14, 2009.
Ashley Suter returned to pitch the first five innings of the shutout win for the Cavs, while newcomer Danielle Orvella finished it with two innings of scoreless relief.
Orvella had to pitch herself out of a jam in the sixth to keep the shutout, though, as she let Corban’s seventh, eighth and ninth batters reach safely to start the inning, loading the bases with no outs and the top of Corban’s order due up.
Orvella did not panic, however, striking out Corban’s Brittany Chestnut for the first out, then inducing a shallow fly ball to left for the second.
Unfortunately, that brought Stephanie Nippert, the national leader in home runs, to the plate for the Warriors. The Cavs had intentionally walked Nippert six straight times at that point between the two games, but could not afford to do that this time with the bases loaded. Forced to pitch to her then, Orvella, again, calmly answered the call, getting ahead of Nippert early in the at bat. Nippert eventually ran the count full, however, and then smacked a fly ball to right-center field. The ball looked headed for the gap, but Cavalier right fielder Robin Gawlista got a good jump on it and snagged it out of the air to get the Cavs out of the inning with no runs scored.
Orvella then had no trouble in the top of the seventh as she closed the game out for the Cavs.
The Cavaliers’ bats, meanwhile, opened the scoring with two unearned runs in the bottom of the fourth. Taylor Copher reached on an error to lead the inning off for the Cavs, then immediately moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Kate Santos. Laura Luther brought her around from there as she hit a single to right-center field during the next at bat to put the Cavs up 1-0. Cassidy Horner then followed Luther with a hit of her own, while Robin Gawlista plated Luther two batters later with a two-out bloop-single to right. Gawlista’s single just barely cleared the infield, but it was still enough to score Luther since Luther was running on contact with two outs in the inning.
The Cavs then added their third and final run after getting out of the jam in the top of the sixth. Luther started the rally this time, drawing a one-out hit-by-pitch from Corban starter Chelsea Schriber. Horner followed Luther with a walk, though Luther would be replaced on the base paths one batter later when Jennifer Lutton grounded into a fielder’s choice. The Cavs still had runners on first and second with two outs, though, and Gawlista loaded the bases one batter later with a single through the middle of the infield. From there, senior Kyndell Andrews pinch hit for teammate Mary Lugar and drew a crucial walk that plated Horner for the Cavs’ final run of the game.
Luther and Gawlista led the Cavs offensively in the second game as Luther went 1-for-2 with a run scored and an RBI, while Gawlista went 2-for-3 with a run batted in.
On the flip side, Chestnut led the Warriors from the plate, going 2-for-4 in the game. Nippert, though she ended 0-for-1, was also crucial for the Warriors offensively as she drew three walks before flying out to right to end the sixth.
In the circle, Suter picked up the win for the Cavs, while Orvella picked up a well-earned save. Schriber, meanwhile, picked up the loss for Corban after pitching all six innings for her team.