April 4, 2017

’Birds seize three of five in series against Lewis-Clarke

Written by Bill Situ

Bill Situ

Coming off of three straight wins against the College of Idaho Yotes, the UBC baseball team went on to win three of five in its series against the Lewis-Clarke State College Warriors.

“It was a tough weekend, playing five games in three days, especially against a really, really good opponent,” said UBC head coach Chris Pritchett.

On Friday, UBC had a two-game sweep over Lewis-Clarke, winning 6-5 and 3-2.

The first game was a replacement for a cancelled game from February 26. Tyler Yorko, Austen Butler, John Whaley, Kyle McComb, Brenda Rose and Anthony Olson each had a run. Connor Noble pitched the entire game, allowing five hits.

In the second game, the Warriors had the initial 2-0 lead in the top of the first before the ’Birds responded with runs from Yorko, Butler and Mitch Robinson in the third to come out on top.

After two wins on Friday, the ’Birds dropped both games of the doubleheader on Saturday by 3-0 and 7-2.

The first game saw an outstanding performance by star pitcher Matt Fish, who allowed only three hits in nine innings. In the second game, the Warriors had an explosive second inning to take a 4-0 lead. Butler and Yorko scored in the third to cut Lewis Clarke’s lead in half, but the ’Birds later gave up another three runs and fell 7-2.

In the final game on Sunday, the ’Birds had a 9-6 comeback victory to finish the series.

“We had a little bit of a disappointment [on Saturday], but we were able to get a win, which was huge,” said first baseman Vinny Martin after the game.

Lewis-Clarke opened the scoring in the bottom of the second with a single home run by J.J. Robinson. Later in the inning, a fielding error by second baseman Nick Spillman allowed Emilio Alcantar and Marten Pauwels to add two more runs, giving the Warriors a 3-0 lead. The warriors extended the lead to 4-0 in the third when a double by Gunnar Buhner drove home Seaver Whalen.

In the top of the fourth, Robinson brought UBC onto the scoreboard on a ground out by catcher MacKenzie Parlow. Yorko then returned home on a homer by Martin, narrowing Lewis Clarke’s lead to 4-3. Martin again drove Yorko home in the next inning to equalize the game.

“No one panicked and [the players] kept playing our game, and towards the middle of the ball game, we started swinging the bats a little bit and got some momentum,” said Pritchett.

UBC then had an explosive seventh inning to take the lead. McComb, Butler and Olson respectively scored on a throwing error, a passed ball and a balk. Robinson and Yorko had the last two runs, where Yorko stole the home base.

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[''] Bill Situ

In the bottom of the final frame, Robinson and Buhner hit two sacrifice flies after the bases were loaded to make the final score 9-6 in favour of UBC.

“This is the second time we’ve come back,” said Pritchett. “I don’t think [the players] ever think they’re out of a game and that’s so important going forward.”

UBC will play its next series on the road against the Corban University Warriors on Friday, April 14 and Saturday, April 15.

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