Sailors pitches one-hitter in victory over Mountaineers
March 21, 2008
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Junior Erin Sailors continues to add to her school-record strikeout total, as the right-hander has now accumulated 256 K's in her young two-plus years as a Warrior. (Photo courtesy of Mark Colachico, Corban Sports Info.) |
LA GRANDE, Ore. – Junior Erin Sailors (Anchorage, Alaska) pitched a one-hitter in the night cap to go along with junior Karlee Sisler's (Corvallis, Ore.) three-run home run, as Corban's softball team split a Cascade Collegiate Conference doubleheader, 0-8 & 8-0, with the Mountaineers of Eastern Oregon Friday at Anderson Field.
Having not played for 27 days, the Warriors took the field against fellow conference opponent Eastern Oregon and looked like a team that had not stepped on the field in almost a month in the opener. On the other hand, the Warriors rebounded in the finale and looked like a team that was destined for an unbelievable run through the conference while riding the powerful right arm of Sailors.
Game #1 - Eastern Oregon 8, Corban 0 (5 innings)
In the opener, neither team got on the board until the bottom of the third inning when the host Mountaineers put a pair of runs up via three hits. EOU's Megan Platz drove home Iris Woodhead with a single to right field for the game's opening run. One batter later, Lydia Holm brought home Eastern Oregon's second run of the inning via a single to left field that plated Michelle St. John.
The very next inning, Eastern Oregon put five runs on the board thanks to three hits and a pair of Warrior errors. EOU's Lindsey Smith began the scoring with an RBI hit to center field that Corban's center fielder dropped allowing Crystal Weseman to score from third. Two batters later, St. John doubled to left center allowing Woodhead and Smith to score. Another two batters later, Holm brought home the inning's final runs via a single up the middle that allowed Platz and St. John to score.
The game's final frame -- the bottom of the fifth inning -- began with Smith earning a walk before advancing to second via a Kimmy Peterson single up the middle. Both runners then advanced sixty feet via a pass ball before Woodhead lined out to second for the inning's opening out. With one out and runners on second and third, Corban's Sisler uncorked a wild pitch allowing Smith to score from third therefore ending the game due to the 8-run mercy rule that comes into effect after the fifth inning.
Offensively for the Warriors, three players -- senior Jennifer Childers (Winston, Ore.), sophomore Josie Strange (Chehalis, Wash.), and sophomore Jessica Pierce (Kennewick, Wash.) -- each recorded a hit, while Sisler went the full 4.1 innings allowing eight runs (three earned) on seven hits.
For Eastern Oregon, St. John and Holm each recorded a pair of hits with Holm driving in a game-high three runs. In the circle, Melodee Mildenberger went the distance allowing a mere three hits while striking out a game-high two Warriors.
Game #2 - Corban 8, Eastern Oregon 0 (6 innings)
In the night cap, neither team could crack the scoring column for the opening two innings before Corban tallied eight unanswered runs over the game's final four innings beginning with a single run in the top of the third inning. Pierce began the frame with a single to center field before junior Megan Gaylord (Portland, Ore.) advanced everyone one base via a single to left field. Three batters later, Strange stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and was hit by the pitch therefore bringing home Gaylord for the Warriors' first run of the afternoon.
In the fourth inning, Gaylord brought home a pair of Warriors via a double to left center that allowed sophomore Siriana Guest (Salem, Ore.) and Sisler to score to put Corban up by a score of 3-0.
In the fifth inning, freshman Jennifer Kollaer (Albany, Ore.) began the stanza with a single to short before Strange was hit for the second time in the night cap. A sacrifice bunt by Childers allowed both Kollaer and Strange to advance one base before Sisler connected on her second home run of the season -- a blast to left field -- that knocked EOU's starter Kelly West out of the game and handed the visiting Warriors a 6-0 lead.
In the top of the sixth inning, freshman Jessie Jones (Gladstone, Ore.) set the stage for the final Warrior runs to score with a double down the left field line. Senior Lindsay Batey (Aloha, Ore.) then earned a walk to put runners on first and second with one out. Kollaer then doubled to left center driving in both Jones and Batey for the Warriors' seventh and eighth run of the game.
Knowing that the game would end due to the 8-run mercy rule, Sailors struck out the side in the bottom of the sixth inning to give the Warriors' their first conference victory since April 25th of last season when Corban defeated then-No. 13-ranked Oregon Tech, 9-8, on a walk-off, two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Gaylord and Kollaer led the Warriors' offense with a pair of two-hit, two-RBI performances, while Sisler drove home a game-high three runs. Jones, Batey, Sisler, Guest, and Pierce each registered a hit for the Warriors, who as a team tallied a season-high tying nine hits.
In the circle, Sailors went the distance allowing a mere hit, while tying her own school-record for strikeouts in a single game with a game-high 13.
EOU's Weseman recorded the Mountaineers' lone hit of the night cap via a single up the middle in the bottom of the fourth inning. Pitching-wise for Eastern Oregon, West went the opening 4.1 innings allowing six runs (five earned) on seven hits with three K's before turning the ball over to Emma Hubbard for the game's final 1.2 innings.
With the split, Corban is now 4-7 overall, 1-1 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play. Meanwhile, Eastern Oregon moves to 3-4 overall, 2-2 in CCC action. The Warriors will return to the diamond on Saturday, March 22nd, when Corban goes head-to-head with the 'Yotes of The College of Idaho beginning at 11:00 a.m. in Caldwell, Idaho.
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