ROCKLIN, Calif.  - The Warriors opened the 2018 season Friday at McBean Park with many firsts in the book while taking on Corban University. Jessup showed persistence in each game having to come from behind for the pair of wins (8-3, 7-3), the best start in program history and first two wins under first-year head coach Jake McKinley.

"Our team showed a lot of maturity in both games. Despite falling behind early twice, we stuck to our approach and found a lot of different ways to scrape across big runs," McKinley said.

The visiting Warriors would light up the board first in the second inning of game one against starting pitcher, senior Tristan Prybylinski with a sacrifice bunt scoring Corbans first run of the season and add another in the following inning to take the 2-0 lead over Jessup.

The Warriors would jump ahead in a two-out rally as junior Will Law doubled to right center for the RBI, followed by Austen Swift reaching on an error and advancing to second to score Law to tie it up.

Picking up where he left off in the previous inning, Law hit a sacrifice fly to right field with bases loaded scoring junior Noah Shackles and Swift continued the thread with a single to score Joseph Howell extending the lead 5-2. 

Steve Pastora added the final touches on the bottom of the fourth with a single through the left side to score Swift and Takemura (7-2).
The final run for Jessup would be a lead-off home run by Joey Torres in the top of the fifth inning over the left-center wall, while reliever for the Jessup Cameron Morrow would give up Corban's final run of the game with a home run in the top of the eighth inning. 

Taking game one 8-3, Prybylinski earned his first win of the season with an offensive surge by Law going 1-4 with 2 RBI's, Swift 1-5 with 2RBI's, Pastora 2-4 with a pair of RBI's and Takemura going 2-2.

Taking the mound in game two for his first season in blue and white was Ashkhon Kuhaulua, who also inked his first win of the season.

Corban came out the gates strong again in the second outing with a lead-off home run followed by three hits and another run to take the 2-0 lead. But the Warriors would tack one on in the bottom of the frame with a single from Swift who came around to score.

Jessup would tie it up in the bottom of the second with a leadoff single by Torres who came in to score off a sacrifice hit by Shackles and the take the lead in the third inning with an RBI by Swift and Pastora to go up 4-2.

The Warriors would add a run in each inning following while Corban would cross the plate just one more time in the top of the fifth.

Swift would lead the force in game two going 4-for-4 with a pair of RBI's followed by Law (2-4, 2RBI), Joe Starick (2-4) and Shackles (1-3, 2 RBI's).

The Warriors will close out the four-game series tomorrow against Corban University looking to clinch their first series win to open the season. First pitch is slated for 11 am with game two projected to start at 2 pm at McBean Park in Lincoln.

Always looking ahead McKinley prepares for tomorrow, "The most important thing we can do is flush these games and prepare for two more tomorrow. Good days and bad days happen and we are fortunate today was a good one. But we need to move forward to our next task."  
William Jessup University is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC). For additional information regarding Jessup Athletics, visit www.jessupathletics.com; visit www.jessup.edu for more information on William Jessup University. Follow Jessup Athletics on social media: William Jessup University Athletics (Facebook) and @JessupAthletics (Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat).