Marshall pitches Cavs to Corban sweep

4/11/2014 6:03:00 PM

PORTLAND, Ore.—Picking up wins on both ends of a Friday twinbill, McKenzie Marshall (Oregon City, Ore./Oregon City H.S.) led Concordia to a 5-3, 7-2 sweep over Corban University in Cascade Collegiate Conference softball action at Delta Park.

Marshall allowed just two unearned runs in 12.1 innings of work over the course of the day to improve to 11-4 on the season.

Concordia (20-14, 12-4 CCC) will return to action on Saturday with a doubleheader against Northwest Christian. Opening pitch against the Beacons is set for 11 a.m. at Delta Park. Corban (19-17, 6-12 CCC) will travel to play at Northwest University in Kirkland, Wash., tomorrow.

Game 1 – Concordia 5, Corban 3

Concordia scored four runs in the bottom of the third to overcome an early deficit against Corban in the first game of a CCC softball doubleheader at Delta Park on Friday afternoon.

Corban took a lead in the second as Annie Owen, the Warriors' leadoff hitter and centerfielder, connected on a 3-run homer to left-center off Cavalier starter Lucy Baldovino (Medford, Ore./South Medford H.S.).

Marshall entered the game early for the Cavs, picking up the final out of the second with a grounder to second base.

After a relatively clean top half of the third inning by Marshall, giving up an innocent one-out single through the middle to Breonna Bejaran, the Cavalier offense responded in the home half of the inning when Taylor Bussey (Vancouver, Wash./Prairie H.S.), batting with the bases loaded, placed a ball off the left-field fence to clear the bases.

Megan Malvick (Milwaukie, Ore./Rex Putnam H.S.) got the inning going by reaching on a hit by pitch and was followed by a walk from Meghan Luebbert (Sandy, Ore./Sandy H.S.) and a single to right-center by Katie Aden (Tigard, Ore./Tigard H.S.) before Bussey's 3-run smash.

Malvick added an insurance run in the sixth inning with a solo shot down the left-field line for her second homer of the season

Marshall (10-4) picked up the win after allowing four hits in 5.1 innings of work. The senior struck out two and walked two while Corban counterpart Jessica Holsinger took the loss despite striking out five and allowing just four hits in the complete game.

Game 2 – Concordia 7, Corban 2

Once again trailing early on after Corban led off the first with a single run, Concordia tallied four runs in the second and three more in the third to complete the sweep with a 7-2 win over the Warriors in the late afternoon game.

Corban plated its opening run with the aid of a Concordia error in the infield, one of five in the game for the Cavs. Leading up to the score, Shelby Mauermann and Shelby Sorensen smacked back-to-back one-out singles before consecutive grounders to CU shortstop Taylor Copher (Sandy, Ore./Sandy H.S.) could have concluded the stanza. The first dribbler ended in an out which allowed both runners to advance into scoring position while the second drive was mishandled after a tricky hop to allow Mauermann to score. Copher closed out the inning by securing a popup after a Marshall delivery.

Concordia struck for four hits in the second inning but three errors, including two on arrant throws, allowed four runs to score and give the Cavs the lead.
Moving to the third and armed with a 4-1 edge, Mariah Jimenez (Camas, Wash./Camas H.S.) provided the finishing touch on the Concordia win with a 3-run shot over the center-field fence.

Corban starter Samantha Gutwig went on to retire the last 10 Concordia batters but Marshall nearly matched the string by giving up just two singles the rest of the way for her second win of the day.

After being outhit 6 to 4 in the opener, Concordia came back to post a 7 to 6 advantage in the second game with Copher credited with a 2 for 3 contest which included two runs scored.