VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds suffered their first home doubleheader sweep of the season on Saturday against the College of Idaho Coyotes, dropping game one 5-2 after a four-run ninth inning comeback by the visitors and falling 5-2 again in the nightcap at Nat Bailey Stadium.
Game one was UBC's to lose after a strong outing by starter Eric Brown and an untimely Coyotes error in the sixth. Brown settled down after allowing one run in the second to shut the Coyotes out for the remainder of his eight innings of work, racking up 10 strikeouts.
The T-Birds took the lead in the sixth when Sean Pisarski grounded a ball to second base with one out and the bases loaded. The Coyotes recorded the second out of the inning at second base but an attempt to turn the double play produced a wild throw to first, allowing two runs to come across.
UBC held that 2-1 lead until the ninth, when Brandon Kaye came in to close. The Coyotes were all over him from the start though, as Tanner Hodges led off with a single and scored the tying run on Todd Griffiths' RBI single. Jordan Lanman's single drove the go-ahead run across, and the final two runs of the game scored on a wild pitch and an Isaac Garsez double.
"Eric was good for us. He gave up that early run but then really settled down well after that," said UBC head coach Terry McKaig. "We're trying to work on some things to get ready for playoffs and obviously it didn't work out today at the end with Brandon coming in but, in a playoff game, Eric is going back out for the ninth there."
The T-Birds managed just six hits in game one, with Austin Fruson picking up three of them, including two doubles.
"We just don't have hitters going up ready to hit and wanting to be the guy," said McKaig. "To score big innings you need four or five hitters to go up and deliver a good at-bat but today we were getting one or two guys on that plan and then the next couple guys take the at-bat off and you don't score. We've been harping on guys about that all year and it's been a struggle."
Chad Yeggy picked up the win for Idaho with two innings of scoreless relief work. Bobby Wassmann had a strong seven-inning start, allowing just five hits and two runs, but had to settle for the no-decision.
The 'Birds looked to have sorted things out at the plate early in game two, touching up Idaho starter Mitch Dame for three hits and a run in the first inning, but again the bats went quiet. Blake Carruthers swatted a homer over the left field fence to lead off the fourth, making it 2-1 UBC at the time, but that marked the end of UBC's offensive production for the day.
The Coyotes jumped in front with a three-run fifth inning, keyed by Kyle Douglas' two-run home run. They scored a third when Hodges was hit by a pitch and later scored on a UBC error. The T-Bird defence was shaky on Saturday, committing three errors in game one and two more in the nightcap.
"It was a beautiful day, we're at Nat Bailey, it's Seniors' Day - a lot of things that you'd think we would come out and be motivated by, but it was just a flat performance," said McKaig. "It's hard to explain how this happened but we're not in the business of making excuses. Just a disappointing day."
Gavin Gamboa had an RBI single in the seventh to make it another 5-2 final for Idaho.
Dame lasted six innings and gave up eight hits and two runs to earn the win. David Otterman was hit with the loss for UBC, allowing three earned runs off eight hits in 4.2 innings.
The T-Birds fall to 22-8 in conference play, still leading the North Division of the NAIA West, but now in danger of being caught by the Coyotes who improve to 18-8. Sunday's doubleheader against the Coyotes is the last regular season action this year for the T-Birds, and they need just one win to lock up the division title and the higher seed for the NAIA West Grouping Tournament, but another Coyotes sweep would leave the door open for them to catch UBC when they take on Lewis Clark State next week.
The T-Birds and Coyotes wrap up the series on Sunday with a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m. It is currently scheduled for Nat Bailey but could be moved to Thunderbird Park on the UBC campus depending on weather. Check www.gothunderbirds.ca for any schedule changes.
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