VANCOUVER – The fourth-seeded Corban (Ore.) Warriors opened the
2016 NAIA West Grouping Baseball Championships, presented by U.S. Bank, with a 9-0 shutout of the No. 5 seed Marymount (Calif.) Mariners in Vancouver, B.C. on Friday.
On a blustery day at Thunderbird Park, Corban starter Caleb Henry pitched seven innings, giving up just five hits to the Mariners.
Henry and Marymount hurler Dylan Hatch kept the game scoreless through first four innings before the Warriors broke through offensively in the top of the fifth.
Designated hitter Kyle Kilian hit a two-run down the left field line to score Ryan Rosas and Daniel Freiburger.
Corban loaded the bases in the next inning and pinch hitter Alex Storaci drew a two-out walk to make it 3-0, but Marymount was able to end the threat.
The Warriors posted three more runs in the seventh to put the game away. Vince Gonzalez singled through the left side to bring home Benjamin Liogon. Landon Frost then tripled down the left field line to score two more.
Corban added a run in the eighth and a pair in the ninth to complete the scoring.
Gonzalez went 3-for-4 at the plate for the Warriors and Kilian, Liogon and Frost all drove in two runs each.
Playing its inaugural season of baseball, Marymount got hits from Hatch, Randy Garcia, Kevin Lopez, Cole Henderson and Anthony Collins in its playoff debut.
The Mariners loaded the bases in the home half of the second inning with just one out. However, Collins hit a fly ball to center field that was ruled to be not a catch. McDonnell, the lead Marymount runner, was forced out at home after the ball was relayed back into the infield.
The Mariners left five runners on base in the opening two innings.
They will look to keep their season alive on Saturday morning in a loser-out contest against either the College of Idaho or UBC at 10 a.m.
Corban will face top-seeded Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) later today at 4 p.m.