Seniors guide Warriors to season-ending sweep

May 6, 2006

BOX SCORES - GAME #1 | GAME #2

Seniors Jesse Gaylord (pictured above) and Brian Nelson (pictured below) capped their careers at Corban with combined 4-for-7 efforts in guiding the Warriors to a season-ending sweep over Eastern Oregon. (Photos courtesy of Mark Colachico, Corban SID)

SALEM, Ore. – Seniors Jesse Gaylord (Portland, Ore.) and Brian Nelson (Lebanon, Ore.) capped their illustrious careers with combined 4-for-7 performances, as Corban’s baseball team put an exclamation point on the end of its season with a double header conference sweep of Eastern Oregon, 7-3 & 6-4, today on senior day at Warrior Field.

The 5-foot-9 Gaylord went 2-for-3 with an RBI in the opener and then helped Corban come-from-behind in the nightcap with a 2-for-4 performance that included an RBI triple in the 8th inning that gave the Warriors a much-needed insurance run.  Meanwhile, the 6-foot-3 Nelson opened the twin bill with a 2-for-3 performance that included and RBI before ending his collegiate career with a 2-for-4 effort that included 2 runs scored.

In the opener, both teams were locked in a pitching dual between Corban’s sophomore Jordan Emery (Salem, Ore.) and Eastern Oregon’s Chad Lucas.  After five scoreless frames, the Warriors struck for 7 runs on 5 hits in the 6th inning highlighted by back-to-back home runs by sophomore Scott Flux (Salem, Ore.) and junior Brett Timmerman (Medford, Ore.).  Flux drilled a 3-run shot down the left field line, while Timmerman’s solo blast went down the right field line.  Gaylord, Nelson, and junior Ryan Heil (Medford, Ore.) each had RBI hits in the inning.

With what seemed to be a comfortable seven-run lead, Emery took the hill in the 7th and final inning and loaded the bases on a hit by pitch, single, and walk.  EOU’s first run came via a hit by pitch when Emery plunked Jake Hetterley and then handed the ball to junior reliever Zeke Clayton (Myrtle Creek, Ore.), who got the final three outs despite allowing two more runners to score.

Emery picked up his team-leading 6th win thanks to a 3-hit performance over 6.0 innings of work.  The 6-foot-3 right hander allowed 3 earned runs and struck out 2 Mountaineer batters.

In the night cap, Eastern Oregon snagged the early lead on a 1st inning 2-run home run by Doug McGee before Corban put up two runs of its own in the bottom half of the inning via RBI singles by junior Jeremy Frantz (Medford, Ore.) and Gaylord.

The visiting Mountaineers re-took the lead in the 2nd inning when Ryan Bigelow reached on an error and scored on a wild pitch following back-to-back ground outs.

In the 3rd inning, Corban took a 1-run lead after a suicide squeeze by Flux that scored Nelson and an RBI single to center field by Timmerman that plated freshman pinch runner Rondie Taylor (Clackamas, Ore.).

Eastern Oregon tied the game in the 5th inning when McGee grounded out to second, scoring Mark Yanez from third.

In the 6th inning, sophomore Darren Johnson (Vancouver, Wash.) drove in the game-winning run on a single to right field that scored Timmerman from second who had doubled to right field.

Gaylord tacked on an insurance run in the 8th inning with a triple into the right field corner scoring Taylor from first.

Freshman starter Jason Braun (Dallas, Ore.) went the first 6.0 inning for Corban to pick up his first collegiate victory, allowing 4 runs (3 earned) on 4 hits before handing the ball over to a trio of relievers.  Junior Bryan Bernard (Salem, Ore.), sophomore Derek Stokes (Anchorage, Alaska), and Clayton pitched the final 3.0 innings and allowed only 1 EOU hit en route to securing the series sweep.

On the afternoon, Gaylord and Nelson led all players with their 4-for-7 performances, while Flux collected 4 RBIs thanks to his 3-run dinger in game one and a suicide squeeze in game two.

Eastern Oregon was led by McGee’s combined 2-for-5 day with 2 RBIs, while five other Mountaineers each collected a hit in the double header.

With the sweep, Corban improves to 14-28 overall, 9-21 in Region I action.  Eastern Oregon falls to 12-30 overall, 8-21 in Region I play.  Despite a weekend sweep, the Warriors will not qualify for the NAIA Region I tournament, as they finished three games behind Oregon Tech for the fourth and final playoff spot.