VANCOUVER - Blake Carruthers' three-run double and a complete game shutout by Shawn Hetherington highlighted the UBC Thunderbirds' 4-0 win in game two of Sunday's doubleheader against the College of Idaho, which salvaged a split for the day after the Coyotes won game one 6-2 and took the series three games to one at Nat Bailey Stadium.
The Coyotes drew first blood in the fourth inning of game one, taking advantage of a Matt Spillman error with two outs that allowed Gavin Gamboa to reach base safely to continue the inning. After Issac Garsez doubled, Jesse Dodd followed with a double of his own to put Idaho up 2-0. They made it 3-0 in the sixth when Garsez led off with a triple and later scored on a passed ball.
The T-Birds had just one hit through five innings but got on the board in the sixth on sac flys from Andrew Madsen and Carruthers, drawing within one of the Coyotes.
But the visitors blew it open with three late runs. Garsez continued his huge weekend at the plate with his third hit of the game - an RBI single in the eighth - and Jeffrey Harris hit a two-run double in the ninth to make it a 6-2 final.
"It was a tough weekend, there's no way of looking around that," said UBC head coach Terry McKaig. "Idaho actually played really well. That's a pretty good ball team and they came in here playing well, and I give them credit for that."
Joshua Orr got the win for Idaho, allowing two runs on two hits over 5.1 innings. Chad Yeggy picked up his second save of the weekend, holding UBC scoreless over the final 3.2 innings.
Sheldon McDonald took the loss, allowing two runs - both unearned - on three hits over four innings.
Game two was dominated by Hetherington, who made just his second start of the year after coming out of the bullpen most of the season. He allowed just five hits and no walks over the course of the seven-inning contest to get the win.
"Shawn getting the shutout was big for us. It definitely helps that he is a senior and has been on the big stage with us before," said McKaig. "It was a real big outing when we needed it and he's capable of doing that for us. It's nice to be able to use a guy in different roles like that."
UBC opened the scoring on Adam Quan's RBI double to right-center in the third inning. The freshman left fielder also made an impact in the field in the next inning, hitting the cutoff man with a strong throw after a Hodges single to help gun down Garsez at home, who was trying to score from second on the play.
The big swing of the game came from Carruthers in the fifth inning. After the T-Birds began the inning with two quick outs, Quan and Keaton Briscoe singled, and Austin Fruson walked, setting the stage for Carruthers' bases-clearing double to put UBC up 4-0.
"That was a big hit from Blake - we badly needed that," said McKaig. "We were playing from behind for most of the weekend so to get out in front like that was big."
Carruthers finished 3-for-6 with four RBI on the day. Quan, Fruson and Madsen all had two hits for UBC.
Garsez led the Coyotes offensively with four hits on the day, including a double and a triple. He finished 8-for-15 this weekend.
The T-Birds finish the conference regular season at 23-9, while the Coyotes move to 19-9 and still have four games remaining against Lewis Clark State. But Idaho can finish tied with UBC at best, and the T-Birds won the season series 5-3, so they will win the North Division of the NAIA West and have the higher seed heading into the NAIA West Grouping Tournament.
The Grouping Tournament will be hosted by Menlo College in Atherton, California the week of May 4.
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