VANCOUVER - After blowing a five-run lead in the series opener, only to come back from their own five-run hole and win it 15-12 against the Oregon Tech Hustlin' Owls, the UBC Thunderbirds completed the doubleheader sweep behind a strong outing from
Sean Callegari with a 3-1 win in game two on Saturday in Klamath Falls, Oregon.
GAME 1 BOX SCORE /
GAME 2 BOX SCORE
Mike Hole got the 'Birds out to an ideal start to the series with a bases-clearing double in the first inning, and
Jerod Bartnik followed that up with a double of his own to put UBC up 4-0 before the Owls ever got up to bat.
Andrew Firth had a two-run single in the fourth inning that made it a 6-1 game for staff ace
Alex Graham, who was looking good coming off his best outing of the season.
But his day took a bad turn after an unlucky start to the bottom of the fifth. Ryan Hayden led off the inning by reaching base via the dropped third strike, and Graham then issued his first walk of the day to put two men on with no outs. The Owls moved the runners over with a sac bunt, and Ethan Schlecht took advantage with a two-run single.
In the sixth, Graham allowed four of the first five batters he faced to reach base, scoring one more run for the Owls to make it a 6-4 game. That's when
Alex Webb took over, but the Owls kept the rally going with a three-run double from Spencer Reed, an RBI double from Alex Reynolds, and an RBI single from Schlecht.
The six-run burst had Oregon Tech up 9-6, and they weren't finished there. After UBC got a run back in the top of the seventh on a
Jeremy Kral single, the Owls added another three runs in their half with a Hayden RBI double and a two-run homer from Tyler Conklin to make the score 12-7.
Fortunately, that long bomb seemed to wake up the UBC power hitters.
Tyson Popoff blasted a two-run homer to get the rally started in the eighth, and after Firth doubled, he later scored on a sac fly from Kral, cutting the lead to two. Hole then blasted his own two-run shot to tie the game at 12 with his fourth and fifth RBIs of the game. And once again Bartnik followed up nicely, making it back-to-back home runs to put UBC up by one.
Miles Verwheel closed things out on the mound in the eighth and ninth to get the save, holding up as the only one of a combined seven pitchers between the two teams that didn't allow a run.
Douglas College second-year transfer K.P. Hlatky capped off a great season debut in the ninth by getting on base after being hit by a pitch, advancing to second and then stealing third before coming home on a wild pitch for his third run scored of the game.
But the offensive fireworks were all used up by the time game two rolled around.
Sean Callegari was dominant on the mound for UBC, throwing seven innings of shutout ball with nine strikeouts and only two hits allowed.
The 'Birds got all three runs in the second inning, with an RBI single from Bartnik and a two-run single from Biro doing the damage. UBC only had two hits the rest of the way, but that turned out to be all they needed behind the combo of Callegari and
Conor Lillis-White, who threw the last two innigs to get the save.
Hole's three hits and five RBIs set the pace for the UBC offence on the day. Bartnik finished with three hits and three RBIs in the DH. Biro also had three hits and three RBIs. Firth had four hits and two RBIs.
The 'Birds improve to 22-13 overall and 16-6 in the conference. They wrap up the series with another doubleheader on Sunday, starting at 11 a.m.
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