GLENDALE, Ore. – After playing to a one-run result last night in the series' opener, the Corban University Baseball team was outplayed in every facet of today's contest against the No. 10-ranked Firestorm of Arizona Christian University, as the Warriors managed just four hits while committing six fielding errors and allowing double-digit runs in a 16-3 full nine-inning affair.
"ACU played a good ball game," Corban head coach Ryan Harris said when asked to explain today's result. "They came out and attacked on the mound and at the plate. We made mistakes and couldn't get much going on offense. We're sitting at .500 with one game left against this same opponent, we need to reset and play team baseball tomorrow, and that will give us our best possible shot at leaving Arizona on a high note."
An early 3-0 lead for the Firestorm (6-3) in the first inning was exaggerated over the next five frames by scoring another 13 runs, with eight alone coming in am unfortunate bottom of the fifth inning for the Warriors (3-3) in which they sent three different arms to the mound in an attempt to escape the inning without further damage following an ACU grand slam that made the scoreboard read 15-0 in favor of the hometown team.
The Navy and Gold earned two runs back in the top of the sixth on a two-run double off the bat of senior third baseman Ryan Clay, yet the damage had already been done defensively that would have taken an absurd amount of offense in the final three innings to climb back into this ballgame. Junior shortstop Isaac Bateman blasted his second homer of the early season in the top of the eighth to represent the third and final run of the day for Corban.
Warriors' redshirt junior Josephan Gonzalez didn't have as nearly as good an outing as he did in his first start last weekend against Simpson University, as the Whitworth University transfer was knocked around for 11 runs on seven hits in 4.0+ innings, walking three batters and earning five strikeouts. A quartet of Corban relievers took over for the remaining 4.0 innings and allowed a combined five runs and four hits while racking up six strikeouts.
A sensational 6.0 innings from Firestorm starter Eastyn Culp where he saw just two Warrior runs scored off two hits while cashing in on seven strikeouts allowed Arizona Christian to secure the series win in game two, with relievers Rocky King and Tyler Elbracht pitching 2.0 and 1.0 innings, respectively of two-hit and one-run combined baseball.
Bateman was the lone Navy and Gold student-athlete with a multi-hit outing in today's matchup, as he finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI, while Clay was 1-for-3 with two RBI. Senior rightfielder Noah Owens picked up the only other hit of the day for Corban baseball in the top of the ninth inning.
The Firestorm saw multi-hit performances from four-different players this evening, including three and two base knocks from the top two batters in their lineup, centerfielder Andrew Ivy and leftfielder Kimo Fukofuka. Meanwhile, the best offensive performance of the day came from ACU third baseman Kane Kiaunis and his six RBI and three runs scored stemming from a 3-for-4 success rate at the plate.
An early 12pm AT/11am PT first pitch tomorrow morning is how the Warriors and Firestorm will conclude their three-game series before Corban baseball makes the journey back to the Willamette Valley.
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