SALEM, Ore. - Stephanie Nippert hit a tiebreaking home run in Game 1 and Rachel Conard hit a grand slam in Game 2, lifting Corban University to a key doubleheader sweep of The College of Idaho at Warrior Field.
Game 1 Box Score Game 2 Box Score
Nippert's league-leading tenth home run of the season gave the No. 17 ranked Warriors (15-5, 5-1 CCC) a 3-2 win in the opener, while Conard drove in five, including key hit in a six-run second inning in a 7-3 Game 2 win.
Corban jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning of the opener, as Conard roped a two-run double off the center field wall. The Lady Yotes (13-13, 1-5), who stranded runners in scoring position in the first two innings, cashed in for two runs in the third on a McKensie Stanton homer.
The score would would stay the same until the sixth, when Nippert led off the inning with the solo shot to give the Warriors the lead. The Yotes would threaten in the seventh, as Molly Mills singled with two outs and Kayla Webb reached on an error. However, pinch hitter Julia Henrie popped out to end the game.
Jessica Slate got the win for the Warriors, allowing seven hits and fanning six. Erica Fitzgerald had two hits in the victory for Corban. Nickayla Skinner gave up three runs on seven hits in the loss, with Mills and Rachael Strong each logging two hits for the Yotes.
The Yotes had a chance in the first inning of Game 2, but stranded runners at second and third. Corban responded, as Conard doubled home a run in the Warriors first, then loaded the bases in the second - getting a Brittney Chestnut RBI single and a walk to Nippert to push the lead to 3-0. Conard then slugged her fourth homer of the year to give the hosts a 7-0 lead.
The C of I would try to rally, getting an Ashley Van Horne RBI double in the third and a Skinner two-run double in the fifth, but could not cut the gap further.
Chelsea Schriber got the win with six innings of nine-hit ball, with Conard going 2-for-4 with five RBI. Nine different C of I players had one hit each, as Cortni Pena took the loss - allowing just one earned run, walking five, and fanning three.
The C of I meets Northwest Christian, weather permitting, tomorrow at 11 a.m.
