Click the 'Play Button' on the photo above for video highlights from Corban's win over Simpson. (Photo Credit: Doug Pfeiler)
REDDING, Calif. – The Corban University softball team registered its first trademark win of the 2017 campaign on Friday, pulling off the upset of No. 6-ranked Simpson University (Calif.), 12-6. The Warriors never trailed in the rainy three-hour contest en route to their fifth-straight victory to open the season.
Click the 'Play Button' on the photo above for video highlights from the Warrior victory.
"I'm proud of the fight our team showed today," said Corban head coach Abigail Farler. "We have a great group of aggressive athletes."
The win vs. the No. 6 team in the NAIA marks the highest-ranked team a Warrior softball team has ever defeated.
Corban got on the board in the first inning when Raimee Sluder stepped up to the plate with two outs and two runners on and smacked a shot over the center-field fence to put the Warriors up 3-0.
While Simpson answered with three runs of its own in the bottom half of the first frame, Corban responded right back with two runs in the second thanks to a Sam Woodley RBI single. Allie Mendez then hit a sacrifice fly in the third to put the Warriors up by three runs.
The sixth-ranked Red Hawks (8-2) bounced back and tied the game in the fifth inning with a trio of runs, but Corban was unfazed, pushing the issue offensively in the sixth inning and scored three more runs. The Warriors were aggressive on the base paths in the frame, and both Maddy Melton and Sluder came up with key RBI base knocks.
In the seventh, the Navy and Gold tacked on three more runs for good measure, with Woodley ripping an RBI double to left field and Iris Rodriguez smoking a two-RBI single to make it a six-run lead for the Warriors.
In the seventh, Mendez finished off the complete-game performance in the circle, sealing the 12-6 triumph for the Warriors. Mendez scattered 12 hits over seven innings while allowing six runs, only four of which were earned. She also struck out five Red Hawk batters in her third win of the campaign.
Rodriguez led the way at the plate for the Warriors with a 3-for-5 showing, two runs scored and two RBI, while Sluder finished with two hits, a team-best four RBI and one run scored. Melton and Woodley also tallied two hits apiece for the Navy and Gold in the rainy win.
Corban (5-0) returns to the diamond tomorrow for a trio of games after Friday afternoon's contest against William Jessup University (Calif.) was moved to Saturday due to heavy rain. The Warriors will take on WJU at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. before once again facing off against Simpson at 6 p.m.
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