SAN MARCOS, CA - The UBC Thunderbirds closed out the 2011 Cougar Clash with a win and loss during the final day of competition.
The T-Birds (10-14) picked up their second win of the tournament with a 12-9 victory over NYU Polytechnic in the day's first contest.
NYUP made its tournament debut with a bang, as freshman outfielder Megan Moran hit a three-run home run in her first collegiate at-bat to get the Blue Jays off to a strong start. But it was British Columbia who prevailed in the end, getting a strong 4 1/3 innings in relief from pitcher
Kelsey Andison, as well as a grand slam from
Lindsay McElroy. NYU Poly brought the tying run to the plate in the seventh inning, but Andison struck out the game's final batter to close out the win.
Head coach Phil Thom was impressed with his team's effort.
"Overall the game was a slug fest with both sides hitting the ball all over the park. It was good to see us come out on top in a game like that."
The day's second game against the hosts from Cal State San Marcos, the no. 8 ranked team in the NAIA, turned into a classic pitcher's duel between
Leigh Della Siega and Brenna Sandberg, with both pitchers stifling the opposing offenses for much of the contest. British Columbia took an early 1-0 lead on a Jess Barclay RBI single in the third, and as the game progressed that lead looked like it would hold.
But power-hitting Cougar first baseman Alyssa Dronenburg came to the rescue, leading off the sixth with a bomb to left-centre field that tied the game. Alex Miller then drew a walk, and eventually a Shanti Poston single would plate pinch runner Kaitlin McGinley with what would be the winning run.
Della Siega picked up the tough-luck loss, allowing just two runs in six innings while striking out 6. Sandberg was dominant as usual, throwing 7 innings of 4-hit ball, striking out 9 and walking none.
"We played excellent defence backing up a strong pitching outing by freshman
Leigh Della Siega. With the warm weather, Leigh seems to be getting stronger and stronger each game. Hopefully she will continue to improve as we move to the Tucson Invitational were the weather is another 10 degrees warmer," added Thom.
UBC begins the Tuscon Invitationl on Monday and plays eight more games this week before returning home to Vancouver.
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