OAKLAND - The UBC Thunderbirds wrapped up a very successful trip to Oakland, CA on Sunday, picking up their fifth and sixth consecutive wins in the Bay area. They defeated Patten 10-4 in the first game of the day before taking down Holy Names University 5-3 in their last game of the trip.
It was all UBC in the early going against Patten as they scored three runs in the first, one in the second, and three more in the third to lead 7-0 before Patten got on the board with their first run in the bottom of the third. Britt Meyer paced UBC in the win, going 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored. The T-Birds also got multi-hit performances from Jess Barclay,
Tanya McLean,
Courtney O'Connor,
Lindsay McElroy, Jess Hodge, and Cassandra Dpychey.
That offensive support was more than enough for hurler
Nicole Day, who went the the full seven innings surrendering eight hits and walking two while striking out five.
Against HNU, it was a defensive battle but the T-Birds managed to earn an early advantage before holding off a late comeback from their opponents. UBC opened the scoring in the third with a McLean RBI cashing in
Tayla Westgard before O'Connor plated Barclay to make it 2-0. HNU responded with a single run in the fourth to draw within one.
The T-Birds finally tacked on some insurance in the top of the seventh to put the game out of reach. McLean opened the inning with a walk, O'Connor reached on an error and then McElroy drew a walk to load the bases with no outs. Another miscue from HNU, a passed ball, allowed McLean to score. RBI hits from Hodge and Dpychey cashed in the two other T-Bird runs. Holy Names made a push in the seventh, scoring twice but it wasn't enough to catch UBC.
Following the trip South, UBC is now 23-18 on the season. Next up is a doubleheader with SFU on May 2 before the T-Birds head to Regionals in San Diego later that week.
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