After splits against the Corban University and Lewis-Clark State College on the road, the Thunderbird baseball team picked up three wins and a loss against the College of Idaho Yotes back at home.
UBC played its first doubleheader on Saturday, winning both games by scores of 2-0 and 3-1. Star pitcher Alex Webb showed a brilliant performance on the mound, earning 13 strikeouts to propel the T-Birds to a shutout win in the first game. Right-fielder Bruce Yari tallied a run in both games.
On Sunday, the T-Birds dropped a 5-3 decision before shutting out the Yotes 6-0.
“The last two weeks, we’ve been able to put ourselves into positions to maybe win this thing and make sure that we’re in the postseason. It’s not there yet, but we’ve played better baseball,” said head coach Chris Pritchett.
In the first game, the T-Birds were first to get onto the scoreboard in the bottom of the third inning. After stealing the second base, Tyler Enns reached third base on a sacrificial bunt by Braeden Allemann before scoring two plays later on a wild pitch by Idaho’s Riley O’Brien.
Yari then tallied his third run of the weekend in the fourth frame on a passed ball by Idaho. Three innings later, John Whaley made it 3-0 on a fly ball to the right field, allowing Vinny Martin to score on a triple from the first base.
Despite the three-run deficit, the Yotes managed an explosive comeback in the eighth frame, where they scored five runs. T-Birds pitcher Jeremy Newton gave up five hits before being replaced by Tyler Gillies. UBC was unable to respond on the offence, allowing Idaho to take the 5-3 win.
“I thought we were in position to win it. They just had a really good inning and beat us, but that’s baseball,” said Pritchett.
In the second game, it was again the T-Birds that opened the scoring. After clinching the second and third bases on a sacrificial bunt and a wild pitch, Mike Orosz returned home on a double by Anthony Olson, which happened on a throwing error by Idaho Pitcher Niall Manning. On the next play, a fly ball to the left field by Yari drove home Olson to give UBC a 2-0 lead.
“I think we all just wiped the first game as soon as it was over … and then flipped the switch, and it was a new game, new day,” said Curtis Taylor, who pitched in the second game.
The Thunderbirds added another run in the bottom of the fifth as Yari earned his second RBI (run batted in) of the day, tripling to the right field to drive teammate Kyle McComb home from first base.
In the bottom of the sixth, Anthony Cusati made it 4-0 for the T-Birds as teammate Brendan Rose sent a double to left field. Two more runs then came from Tyler Enns and Lichel Hirakawa-Kao, who pinch ran for Rose.
UBC now holds a conference record of 19-11 and will play its last series of the regular season on the road next week against Oregon Tech.
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