KEIZER, Ore. – A marathon day at Volcanoes Stadium finished with the Oregon Tech and Corban baseball teams splitting 5-4 games to close out their 4-game weekend series.
The Owls (30-17, 9-7 CCC) used a tenth inning rally in the opener to earn the victory, while Corban used a 3-run eighth inning rally to grab the win in the nightcap. The doubleheader began three hours late due to poor field conditions and did not finish until after 10 p.m.
Matthew Ortiz was a combined 5-for-10 and
Tyler Horner added four hits for OIT in the twinbill.
"Two well played games today by both teams," said OIT head coach
Jacob Garsez. "We have a couple moments we would like to have back, but our guys competed well all day."
Tech jumped on 2021 CCC Pitcher of the Year Zack Simon in the first two innings of the opener – taking a 4-0 lead. Horner got OIT on the board with an RBI single and
Mitchel Swanson added a 2-run single in a 3-run first, while a
Dalton Daily RBI single in the second added to the lead.
The Warriors (20-19-1, 7-9) chipped away at the deficit, scoring single runs in the third and fourth and tied the score in the fifth on a Kyle Clay 2-run triple.
Enter
Dylan Grogan, who stymied the Corban bats over the final five innings, limiting the Warriors to just one hit and striking out seven – earning his seventh win of the year.
Tech finally regained the lead in the tenth, as Horner doubled and scored on a perfect
Michael Tarakhchyan squeeze bunt.
Game 2 saw the Warriors take a 2-0 lead into the eighth inning, before OIT rallied against the Corban bullpen. Ortiz started the eighth with a single and moved to third on a
Kaleb Keelean single. Ortiz would score on a wild pitch and Daily tied the score by plating Keelean with an RBI ground out. Three straight Tech batters would reach – thanks to two walks and a hit by pitch – with Swanson giving the visitors a 3-2 lead with a sacrifice fly.
However, Corban would regain the lead in the bottom of the inning on a 2-run Brad Pellkoffer single and strand the tying run at third base in the ninth.
Jacob Miller was outstanding for OIT, working into the eighth inning, striking out a season-high eight in a losing effort.
"The type of competitiveness we showed today is what we need to bring to the yard every day," Garsez said. "We were locked in, responded well to adversity and managed the energy of the game well."
OIT returns home next weekend, hosting No. 4-ranked Lewis-Clark State for a Saturday-Sunday 4-game series at Steen Sports Park.
