DELTA, B.C. - The UBC Thunderbirds softball team gave up just two runs in a doubleheader sweep of the NAIA No. 24 Concordia (Ore.) Cavaliers on Wednesday at North Delta Community Park.
“They pitched well. The hitters hit when we needed them to. The defence was phenomenal. That's all you can ask for,” said UBC head coach Phil Thom of his players. “Some days you come up big. Today, we did the job back-to-back.”
GAME 1 BOX SCORE /
GAME 2 BOX SCORE
After falling behind in the first inning, UBC scored nine unanswered runs to win game one by a score of 9-1. In game two, the Thunderbirds shot out to an early 3-0 lead and then hung on for a two-run victory.
UBC gave up a run to Concordia in the first inning of the opener.
Lindsay McElroy (Delta, BC) led off the bottom of the second by singling to centre field. The UBC catcher eventually moved to third and then scored on an error by Concordia shortstop Taylor Copher.
The next Thunderbirds batter,
Sarah Hillsdon (Langley, BC) drew a walk to load the bases for
Carlyn Shimizu (Richmond, BC), who singled to drive in the eventual winning run. Two batters later,
Cassandra Dypchey (Surrey, BC) got UBC's fourth hit of the inning to score Hillsdon. Shimizu was thrown out at home. The Thunderbirds went up 4-1 in the top of the third on an RBI-triple by
Alana Westerhof (Delta, BC). She got the opportunity to bat after
Molly Gosnell (Sunnyvale, CA) drew a walk after a tough battle against Concordia starting pitcher Ashley Suter.
The visiting Cavaliers got runners on base in the fourth and fifth but couldn't bring them home. Then in the bottom of the fifth, the T-Birds batted around and scored five more runs to end the game early on the mercy rule. Gosnell,
Tayla Westgard (Surrey, BC), Dypchey and
Yasmin Bains (Richmond, BC) all recorded runs batted in.
Dypchey, McElroy and Westerhof all had two hits each in the game.
UBC pitcher
Leigh Della Siega (White Rock, BC) earned her third complete-game victory in as many days by giving up just one unearned run in five innings of work. Della Siega (7-7) struck out four batters and walked one.
The Thunderbirds carried the momentum from the first game into the second on Wednesday. With two outs in the bottom of the first, Westerhof knocked a single to centre field to plate
Jenna Neufeld (Langley, BC) for her team-leading 38th run batted in.
Dypchey added an insurance run in the next inning as she drove in pinch runner
Brittany Hince Siwicki (Winnipeg, MB).
The Cavaliers threatened in the third, fourth and sixth but managed just one run while leaving six runners on base in those three innings.
Pitcher
Nicole Day (Surrey, BC) improved to 5-5 on the year after giving UBC another strong performance on the mound. She gave up just one run on eight hits and didn't give up a walk.
UBC now owns three wins over Concordia this season and is now 21-16 overall in 2013.
The Thunderbirds will now face the Corban Warriors, the No. 10-ranked team in the NAIA, in doubleheaders on Thursday and Friday.
Thursday's first game will begin at 2 p.m. at North Delta Community Park.
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