PORTLAND, Oregon - After having to make a return trip to the park due to a three-hour delay, No. 2-seeded UBC Thunderbirds baseball team defeated No. 4-seed Corban in the fourth game of action at the NAIA West Tournament on Thursday.
BOXSCORE
Originally scheduled for 9 a.m., the first pitch of the game was pushed to 12:45 p.m. to allow a rainstorm to pass through the area. As a result of the delay, the tournament schedule was slightly shifted as the fourth game scheduled for Thursday has been moved to a noon start on Friday.
With the win, UBC improved to 28-18 on the season and will face Concordia in the sixth game of the tournament. With its second loss of the tournament, Corban ends its season with a 28-23 mark after falling to the host Cavaliers 16-6 on Wednesday.
"A bounce back effort today," remarked UBC head coach
Terry McKaig. "We swung the bats really well and we live to see another game."
The Thunderbirds wasted no time in taking a lead with a single run scored in the first.
Andrew Firth drove in lead-off hitter
Sebastian Wong, who reached on a walk, with a single trough the left side. The Thunderbirds added five runs in the second with five hits off Corban starter Justin White and reliever Jake Balbas.
Danny Britton-Foster was perfect the first time through the Corban lineup with three strikeouts. Marc Gallegos broke up the streak with a single to the shortstop. Gallegos stole second to put a runner in scoring position for the Warriors, but ended up stranded at the bag after Britton-Foster forced a fly out and a grounder to shortstop to halt the threat.
The Warriors returned in the top of the sixth with a walk and a pair of hits to break through against Britton-Foster. Gallegos started the attack with a lazar shot back to the pitcher. A walk generated by Gregg Romero moved Gallegos to second where a single to right scored Corban's first run. Corban had chances to add to its total in the frame but a pair of diving grabs by UBC leftfielder
Nick Senior stunted the spree.
Inspired by the previous stanza, Corban tacked on three runs on four hits to chase Britton-Foster. Tyler Atkinson led off the inning with a double to right and was followed by a single to right center by Lance Foster to setup a 2-RBI double by the catcher Kris Gokey. Two batters later, Gallagos collected his third straight hit with an RBI single through the left side. UBC turned to
Connor Smith to record back-to-back groundouts to preserve the lead.
Sparked by the Corban comeback, the Thunderbirds quickly loaded the bases without recording an out in the bottom of the seventh. Ryan Rodriguez, Corban's third pitcher, got the first out of the inning by making a slick bare-handed toss for a force at the plate, but on the first pitch of the next at bat UBC's
Mike Hole sent a ball to right to plate a run.
Rodriguez garnered a key strikeout for the second out only to see lead-off hitter
Sebastian Wong connect on a single to right for two more runs.
Blake Carruthers all but killed any additional Corban comeback hopes with a two-run homer over the left-center fence for a six-run frame.
Despite allowing a run in the top of the ninth, UBC's Smith picked up the save for Britton-Foster's win.
The Thunderbirds outhit the Warriors 15-to-9. Firth and
Jerod Bartnik both went 3-for-5 to lead the Thunderbirds while Gallagos ended the day with a 3-for-4 performance at the plate, scoring two runs and driving in one.
Carruthers recorded five RBI's for UBC.
UBC has to win three more games to win the NAIA West title. The next game for the Thunderbirds is against host Concordia at 6:45 p.m.
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