VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds mounted a massive comeback after falling into a big hole early in the title game of the Lewis Clark State College Guardian Tournament, but it came up a litte short , as the 'Birds were clipped by the host LC State Warriors 13-10 on Sunday.
The T-Birds were actually down 13-0 heading into the sixth, where a
Mike Hole double got a rally started. That rally ended with four runs, including a three-run bomb from
Jerod Bartnik to make it a 13-4 game.
UBC kept the pressure on in the seventh, plating five more runs on a
Nick Senior two-RBI single, a two-RBI double from
Blake Carruthers, and an RBI double from
Andrew Firth.
That made it 13-9 when the 'Birds came up to bat in the top of the eighth, and they tacked on one more on an RBI single from Senior to cut the lead down to three runs.
The 'Birds loaded the bases later in the inning with just one out, but Sal Arena took the mound in relief of Terik Gofinch for the Warriors, getting a strikeout and a pop-up to end the threat with no further damage. Arena also worked a scoreless ninth inning to earn the save.
UBC starter
Matt Trimble took the loss, giving up four runs over three innings.
Alex Graham and
Luke Webster struggled in middle relief duty, but Connor Lillis-White was extremely effective in the sixth and seventh innings for UBC, striking out four with no walks or hits.
Senior led the offence with three hits and three RBI. Bartnik and Carruthers each had three RBI as well.
The T-Birds finished the tournament 2-2 overall, winning their first two games against George Fox and Concordia before dropping two straight to LC State.
Next up for UBC is a seven-game tour of California, beginning on February 16 against Simpson University, and ending February 23 against Chapman University. After that, the conference season kicks off on March 2 at Nat Bailey Stadium against Menlo College.
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