Early leads fail to hold as Warriors fall twice at EOU

March 25, 2006

BOX SCORE - Game #1| Game #2

LA GRANDE, Ore. – Sophomore Scott Flux (Salem, Ore.) and junior Kyle Myers (Canyon City, Ore.) blasted home runs that gave the Corban baseball team leads in both games, but each time Eastern Oregon came back to sweep a doubleheader 3-2 and 10-8 in Cascade Collegiate Conference diamond action at Snowflake Field. 

Corban started the day on a high note, as Myers opened the first game with a solo shot to left field, giving the Warriors a 1-0 lead in the first inning, but the Mountaineers answered with a run in the bottom-half on a failed pick-off attempt.

The Warriors regained the lead at 2-1, when Ryan Porter (Keizer, Ore.) scored on a Jeremy Frantz (Medford, Ore.)  single in the third. Corban sophomore Jordan Emery (Salem, Ore.) held Eastern in check through six innings, giving up just one earned run and scattering six hits, while striking out seven.

Eastern tied the game in the third on a RBI single from Casey Held who was 3-for-3, then won it in the 8th when Held was able to score on a two-out throwing error. The Warriors had a prime opportunity in the top of the 7th with the bases loaded, but a popup led to a double play and a ground out left the visitors scoreless.

Myers and Porter were both 2-for-4 in the first game. Senior Brian Nelson (Lebanon, Ore.) was a perfect 3-for-3 in the opener, and bumped his season batting average to .361 (26-for-72). 

In the nightcap, Flux slammed a 3-run homer to left in the fifth and knocked in five runs for the game, but the Warriors gave up leads they held in the first (2-0), third (5-1) and fifth (8-6) innings. The two teams combined for 23 hits in the second game, with Eastern getting 12 and Corban collecting 11 over the seven-inning contest.

Flux led the Warrior offense with three hits in four trips, including a two-run double in the third to go with his three-run dinger.

Corban used four different pitchers – starter, freshman Jason Braun (Dallas, Ore.), sophomore Derek Stokes (Anchorage, Alaska), junior Bryan Bernard (Salem, Ore.) and junior Zeke Clayton (Myrtle Creek)—who were all touched for runs by the Mountaineers.

Frantz and sophomore Jamie McGraw (Gaston, Ore.) had a pair of hits each for the Warriors. Frantz continues to lead the regulars with a .369 average at the plate (24 for 65).

Corban falls to 5-13 overall, 1-9 in NAIA Region I, while Eastern Oregon improves to 8-12 overall and 6-7 in regional play.  The Warriors are next in action Tuesday, March 28th, when they play at NCAA Division III Willamette University in Salem at 1:00 p.m.