VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds softball team closed out the 2014 Northwest Cup on Sunday with wins over two nationally-ranked squads.
UBC defeated the No. 13 College of Idaho Coyotes 8-6 on the strength of a six-run second inning and then overcame four errors to squeak past the No. 18 Concordia (Ore.) Cavaliers by a score of 4-3.
GAME 1 BOX SCOREÂ /Â
GAME 2 BOX SCORE
In the 9 a.m. matchup against College of Idaho,
Olivia Zwick knocked a three-run home run to left centre to open the scoring in the top of the second inning, bringing home
Cassandra Dypchey, who reached base on an error, and
Lindsey Ogilvie, who was hit by a pitch when she stepped up to the plate.
Quinn Dhaliwal followed Zwick by reaching on another error by College of Idaho.
Kelly Rumley immediately made the Coyotes pay by homering to left to put the Thunderbirds up 5-0.
Carlyn Shimizu continued the onslaught by hitting a triple down the right field line and was brought home on a
Shayla Kaplen ground out to round out the scoring in the inning.
After College of Idaho responded with two runs in the third, UBC got the eventual winning run when Zwick drew a bases loaded walk in the fourth, her fourth run batted in of the day.
The Coyotes made things interesting by adding three more runs in the top of the sixth to close to 7-5 but
Leanne Jung was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the T-Birds' half of the inning. College of Idaho scored once in the seventh but Ogilvie got Briana Brace to ground out with runners on first and third to end the game.
Ogilvie earned the save and also got two hits in two plate appearances while starter
Leigh Della Siega improved her record to 1-1 after surrendering three earned runs in 5.2 innings of work.
Zwick was 2-for-2 at the plate with four RBI's and Rumley was 1-for-2 with two RBI's. Shimizu was the other T-Bird with a multi-hit game, recording two hits in four at-bats.
Pitcher
Alana Westerhof threw a complete game against Concordia (Ore.) to record her first win of the year, going seven innings without giving up an earned run.
Kaplen and Bains delivered RBI singles in the top of the sixth inning to provide the winning runs for UBC.
Concordia had taken a 3-2 lead in the fifth by scoring two runs with help from three Thunderbirds errors.
Down 1-0 after a Cavaliers run in the first, UBC plated two in the third on an Ogilvie RBI single and a Dypchey double down the right field line that scored Bains.
Ogilvie got three hits in four at-bats, driving in a run.
Westerhof struck out five and only gave up four hits to lead UBC to its third straight victory after five losses to open the season.
UBC's doubleheader at Corban in Salem, Ore. has been canceled because of bad weather.
The Thunderbirds will next see game action at the College of Idaho / Northwest Nazarene University tournament, beginning Thursday, Feb. 20. The three-day event will feature games in Caldwell and Nampa, Idaho. UBC will play two games a day, with the first at 9 a.m. on Thursday against Great Falls (Mont.).
