VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds and Lewis-Clark State Warriors combined for 21 runs and 31 hits in the regular season finale on Sunday, with the Warriors coming out on top 12-9 to split the four-game series in Lewiston, Idaho.
BOX SCORE
With the loss, UBC finishes the season tied with Menlo at 19-9 in conference play, but the 'Birds will be the top seed for the tournament at Concordia University thanks to their 2-2 record against Lewis-Clark State in conference play.
Menlo and UBC went 2-2 in head-to-head action, and the second tiebreaker is their records against the top team in the conference. Lewis Clark State finished 22-6 in the conference to finish as the top team, and Menlo was 0-4 agains them. But Lewis Clark State gets a bye through the NAIA West tournament as NAIA World Series hosts.
The 'Birds jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first with RBI singles from
Greg Densem,
Brody Hawkins and
Sebastian Wong, as well as a run scoring on a wild pitch. The Warriors responded in the bottom of the inning with a two-run homer from Bobby Tannehill, but the 'Birds maintained the lead and added to it with another three runs in the fourth.
Jerod Bartnik scored two on a double, and
Andrew Firth added an RBI single.
UBC starter
Jeremy Newton managed to settle down after giving up the first-inning homer and hold the potent Warriors offence scoreless until the sixth, but that's when the momentum started to shift. The Warriors knocked Newton out of the game before he was able to record an out in the sixth, scoring three runs that were all charged to him.
Alex Webb came in to finish off the inning, but he couldn't do anything to slow the Warriors in the seventh, allowing the first four batters he faced to reach base before Miles Verwheel took over on the mound. But all four of those runners scored, and Tannehill added another three-run bomb on top of that to make it a seven-run seventh inning, giving LC State a 12-7 lead.
The T-Birds made some noise in the ninth, scoring two runs on RBIs from Densem and Hawkins to chase reliever Colton Wright from the game. Down 12-9, UBC had the tying run at the plate with one out, but David Murillo struck out both
Kevin Biro and pinch hitter
Jeremy Kral to close things out for the Warriors.
Andrew Firth went 2-for-5 to finish the regular season with a .402 batting average.
Tyson Popoff also went 2-for-5 to wind up .393 in the regular season.
The NAIA West tournament runs May 1-3 in Portland, Oregon. It is hosted by the Concordia Cavaliers, who grabbed the fourth seed at 14-14 in the conference. UBC will also be joined by Menlo, Corban University and the College of Idaho in the double-knockout tournament. The winner gets the West's lone automatic berth to the NAIA Championships.
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