Nampa, Idaho -
After starting the season with five straight losses the UBC Thunderbirds softball team has rattled off five straight wins to get back to .500 on the season thanks to a pair of wins Thursday at the College of Idaho/Northwest Nazarene University Tournament in Nampa, Idaho.
Led by two spectacular pitching performances from Leigh Della Siega and Alana Westerhof, the Thunderbirds defeated the University of Great Falls 1-0 in the morning game and ithen won 6-3 over Northwest Nazarene University in the afternoon. Westerhof set a new UBC strikeout record in the process.
Considered the Thunderbirds ace on the mound this season, Della Siega was on her game against the Argos as she pitched seven shutout innings, while allowing just one hit and striking out 10.
In the bottom of the second UBC scored the only run they would need as Sarah Hillsdon drove in Kelly Rumley to put the Thunderbirds up 1-0.
Argos pitcher Keeley Van Blaricom was solid herself, going six strong innings and limiting the Thunderbirds to just four hits and the one earned run.
Carlyn Shimizu led UBC with two of the four hits.
In their second game of the day against Northwest Nazarene University, the 'Birds exploded for four runs in the top of the sixth inning en route to a 6-3 victory.
UBC got on the board first in the top of the third inning as Lindsey Ogilvie drove in Shimizu who had previously walked to put the Thunderbirds in front 1-0. In the bottom of the inning the Crusaders countered with a run of their own.
That is how things would remain until the sixth inning. With the bases loaded Olivia Zwick delivered a single scoring Cassandra Dypchey and Alana Westerhof to make it a 3-1 game. Quinn Dhaliwal's hit to first base was mishandled allowing Yasmin Bains to come around to score and then Shimizu drove in Zwick to make it 5-1 in favour of the Thunderbirds.
After giving up a run in the bottom of the sixth, the Thunderbirds responded again in the seventh inning. Bains singled to score Ogilvie, who led off the inning with a triple.
The Crusaders would cut the lead to three in the bottom half of the inning, but that is as close as they came, falling 6-3 to the Thunderbirds.
Alana Westerhof was solid on the mound, mowing down the competition, scattering nine hits over seven innings of work, while striking out an impressive 15 hitters, which is a new UBC record. The previous record was 12 strikeouts in a game, which was held by Della Siega. She accomplished the feat last year at the A.I.I. Championships in Texas.
Shimizu and Ogilvie each finished with three hits and a RBI a piece, while Bains and Zwick each had a pair of hits as well.
Tomorrow the 'Birds will play two more games, beginning with a morning rematch against the University of Great Falls (9:00 am PT) followed by an afternoon game against the College of Idaho at 1:00 pm (PT).
