WHITTIER, CA - The no. 10 NAIA ranked UBC Thunderbirds dropped to 1-2 on the season with an 8-5 lose to the Whittier College Poets, who play in the NCAA's Division III.
Following a similar script as their first two games of the year, the T-Birds struggled to get anything going early on and had to play from behind. The Poets took advantage, blowing up the game with a five run effort in the bottom of the fourth inning to make it 6-1. Although the T-Birds woke up on offence over the final five innings, it was a case of too little too late as Whittier also added some insurance runs down the stretch.
"When things don't go well early, you start to press and are playing from behind. We're not good enough this early in the season to be playing all of our games like that and expect to win," said UBC head coach
Terry McKaig. "We're a bit unsure out there. Lots of guys are young, players are stepping into new roles so it's going to to take some time. We're not doubting our potential but we are definitely dealing with some adversity right now."
Keaton Briscoe was the lone T-Bird to register more than one hit with a 2-for-5 afternoon.
Matt Spillman, UBC's new shortstop and lead-off man, had a team best three RBI and added one home run.
Kevin Nickel and
Bob Foerster also went deep for UBC in the loss.
Dan Britton-Foster gave up 10 hits and six earned runs over four innings while striking out five and walking none.
David Otterman and
Luke Webster also saw time on the mound for UBC.
The Poets' lead-off man, Andrew Vallejo, had a stellar game with four hits and a pair of runs scored. Darby Weppner had two hits and two RBIs for Whittier.
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