PORTLAND | The metaphorical chip on the Warner Pacific University Softball team's (2-14, 1-8) shoulders has finally been lifted, as the Knights broke through late in game one to win their first conference contest of the season against the Corban University Warriors (11-14, 5-5), winning game one 5-4 before dropping the non-conference match 0-8 in five innings.

Game 1
 
With constant rain in the forecast, both the Knights and Warriors knew that if they wanted to get at least one decent contest in before the showers hit, they would need to produce some offense as quickly as possible to distance themselves from each other.
 
Warner Pacific did just that in the bottom half of the first inning, as a deep double off the bat of junior starting pitcher Emma Foster brought home a run, and with it the first WPU lead at Erv Lind Stadium this season. One batter later, senior shortstop Carrigan Foster placed a perfectly lined ball into the right-centerfield gap, scoring two more runs and giving the Knights a 3-0 lead after 1.0 innings in the book.
 
Corban responded immediately in the top frame of the second inning, scoring a run on a sacrifice bunt to plate the runner from third base, but E. Foster finished the inning with no further damage.
 
After pulling E. Foster to start the top of the third inning, Knights' Head Coach Alex Flores looked to her sophomore pitcher in Abby Carlson (2-6) to maintain the WPU lead. Unfortunately for the Knights, the Warriors went on to plate two runs in that inning, knotting this game at three runs apiece through two and a half innings played.
 
A quiet fourth inning for both squads allowed Corban to capitalize in the top of the fifth inning, as centerfielder Meri McElligott singled with two outs in the inning, scoring a run that would give the Warriors a 4-3 lead with over half of the game completed.
 
With yet another game looking to slip through their fingers, Coach Flores was looking to utilize the entire lineup in order to walk away from game one with a victory, and did exactly that in the bottom of the sixth. After E. Foster drew a walk with one out, C. Foster singled yet again to advance the pinch runner to second, leaving just 120 feet for the game-tying run to cross the plate.
 
Sophomore right fielder Sammie Brauckmiller was able to advance the runners with a knock into shallow right field, but not quite enough distance for Coach Flores to send freshman pinch runner Kassidie Bukoski to the plate on the play, which meant the bases were locked and loaded for the next batter.
 
Enter sophomore right fielder Faith Vadelund into a prime RISP (runners in scoring position) opportunity, who had just one at-bat prior to this one this weekend when she drew a walk earlier before being pulled from the game for a defensive swap. On a lurking fastball that caught more of the zone than the Warriors would cared for, the reentered Vadelund crushed a line drive over the leftfielders head, scoring both Bukoski and C. Foster's pinch runner (sophomore Christina Barrett) in the process, and lighting a fire under the WPU bench that had yet to be seen at Erv Lind Stadium this season.
 
Corban's starting pitcher Alise Olson (3-5) was chased from the game following Vadelund's game changing at-bat, and relief pitcher Holly Gonzales was able to get the Warriors out of the inning with no further runs scored on the Knights side of the scorebook.
 
Carlson, who had been stronger in the circle this afternoon than any other home performance thus far, was able to induce the first two outs in the top of the seventh before allowing a single to the Warriors' two-hole batter, third baseman Kaycee Arase.
 
Not wanting to take any risks with McElligott coming to the plate, Coach Flores decided to go to the bullpen one more time with two outs in the inning, allowing junior relief pitcher Marissa Bradshaw the save opportunity to clinch Carlson the win.
 
McElligott, who had already reached base twice in the game, decided to reach on an outside pitch that would have likely missed the zone, resulting in an easy groundball out to Knights' second baseman Ashley Hawkins, and thus clinching WPU's first conference win this year.
 
Carlson earned her second win of the season thanks to allowing just three runs off six hits in 4.2 innings of work out of the bullpen, while allowing just one walk that entire time. Bradshaw picked up her first save of the season thanks to the induced groundball out to end the game.
 
C. Foster swung a heavy bat today for the Knights, clinching two hits in three at-bats with two RBIs to lead Warner Pacific to victory. Vadelund earned two RBIs on her game-winning double, the first two of the year for the Milwaukie, Ore. native.
 
Olson was tagged for five runs off six hits and five walks for the Warriors over 5.1 innings of work, but did manage to strike out a pair of Knights over those frames.
 
Offensively for Corban, Arase (3-4, 2 RBIs, 1 R) and McElligott (2-4, 1 RBI) kept the Warriors in position to walk out of this contest with a win, but were unable to provide enough run support by the end of seven innings.
 
Game 2
 
By dropping the Warriors back to a .500 record in conference play, the Knights had certainly awoken a fire within this Corban team that hadn't been seen since yesterday afternoon, as game two of the Saturday doubleheader resulted in a very one-sided decision.
 
Arase led off the contest with an immediate sign as to what was to come for the Warriors, blasting a lead-off home run over the left field fence to open the scoring for game two. Corban second baseman Cambria Kerze, who was held hitless in game one, followed in suit with a left field dinger of her own in the top of the first inning off Bradshaw, and therefore abruptly causing concern for the reserve-player heavy Warner Pacific lineup.
 
Behind a dominating performance on the mound by Warriors' starting pitcher Tatiana Liu (1-2), Corban was able to grow on their lead inning by inning, and didn't slow down even despite the Oregon rainfall that decided to show itself following a complete day of sunshine ballpark vibes up to this point of the afternoon.
 
The Warriors added three runs in the top of the second, two in the third, and one in the fourth to provide them with the eight-run lead necessary to cut this contest short at Erv Lind Stadium, resulting in the 5.0 inning non-conference loss for Warner Pacific.
 
Bradshaw (0-1) dropped her first game of the season behind five runs on four hits and a pair of walks in 1.0 innings, while C. Foster came in for relief to allow three runs on three hits in the remaining 4.0 inning played.
 
Warner Pacific managed just one hit in the series finale against the Warriors, as senior third baseman Payton Hergert reached base to lead off the bottom of the second inning.
 
Liu picked up her first win of the season by pitching a complete game of 5.0 innings of work, allowing just the one hit to Hergert and no runs on the home-side scoreboard. She walked two batters and struck out none in the process, but the steady Warriors defense behind her kept baserunners off the field for WPU.
 
Corban shortstop Karla Calderon had her redemption game of offense for the Warriors, as four defensive errors for her in Friday's doubleheader ignited a 2-for-3 performance with an RBI and a run scored in game two of Saturday's non-conference bout.
 
Warner Pac Softball hits the road next week for another conference installment of two doubleheaders at Carroll College in Helena, Mont, with the first pitch of Friday's contest set for 1pm MDT (12pm PDT) and game two following shortly after the conclusion of the series opener.