KEIZER, Ore. – Five multi-run innings for the host Bearcats of NCAA DIII Willamette University resulted in a lopsided 18-9 loss for the Corban University Baseball team, as the Warriors concluded their three-game non-conference series with their crosstown rival by dropping the rubber match this evening at Volcanoes Stadium.
"We gave a good amount of guys opportunities today," explained Corban head coach Ryan Harris. "There were definitely some emotions and nerves for those guys, and Willamette got out to a big lead early. Our guys did a great job in the middle innings to cut the lead back down to three and give themselves a shot. But just couldn't get the offense going late and then Willamette had one more big offensive inning to get things out of reach. Not the result we wanted, but I saw some good things from guys that haven't had a lot of opportunities today."
Despite playing on their home turf, the Warriors (12-30) served as the road team while the Bearcats' (11-16) home stadium continues their renovation period throughout the 2025 season and hosted Corban at Volcanoes Stadium for the second time in an eight-day stretch. Willamette jumped on Warriors' freshman starting pitcher Riley Pratt, who was making his collegiate baseball debut, with eight runs over the first two innings to set the tone against the Navy and Gold's midweek lineup to eventually double them up 18-9 through a complete nine frames.
Pratt was charged with all eight runs as earned during his Corban debut off five hits and four walks, striking out a pair of Bearcats along the way. Four different Warriors relieved Pratt out of the bullpen, with junior righthander Joshua Pedronan having the only scoreless outing when he closed out the final two outs of the bottom of the seventh.
Willamette reliever Adrian Gonzalez was credited with the win after tossing the final 2.0 innings of the game and not allowing a single baserunner, with three of the previous four Bearcats to pitch giving up multiple runs after the Warriors' offense found its footing. Reliever Nate Schikore was the only pitcher for Willamette outside of Gonzalez to pitch a scoreless outing, pitching the top of the fifth with a single base hit against his season statistics.
Scoring half as many runs was purely the work of 15 combined walks and hit by pitches issued by Corban pitching, as the offense picked up 14 hits, three more than Willamette, with six Warriors earning multi-hit appearances. The top three batters in the lineup represented by junior centerfielder Chase Elliott, freshman shortstop Kellen Desbiens, and sophomore leftfielder Lucas Mertlich, finished a combined 6-for-13 with three RBI and four runs scored, while sophomore catcher Jeremiah Pinkerton scored a pair of runs and plated three more on his two base hits.
The best offensive outing of the contest for the Bearcats came from second baseman Drew Baskin from the cleanup spot, as he finished 3-for-4 with a game-high four RBI and scored three runs himself.
The Warriors will head south this weekend for their penultimate regular season series at Oregon Tech (29-11, 20-9), needing to win as many contests as they can to keep pace in the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) standings where they're currently two games out from qualifying for the 2025 CCC Tournament.
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