VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds lost twice on their first day at the 2014 Tucson Invitational Games in Arizona on Saturday.
Dickinson State plated five runs in the final three innings to claim an 8-7 victory. Then UBC fell 10-2 to No. 10 Olivet Nazarene.
Yasmin Bains drove in five runs against DSU, going 2-for-4 at the plate. In the bottom of the third inning, the shortstop from Richmond singled to centre field to score
Carlyn Shimizu and
Cassandra Dypchey. Then with two outs in the fourth and the bases loaded, Bains knocked a double to centre to bring home
Leanne Jung, Shimizu and
Alana Westerhof to give UBC a 7-3 lead.
Bains scored in the second on a dropped fly ball for UBC's first run of the game. The Thunderbirds' third run in the third inning also came on an error as Westerhof crossed home plate on a fielding error.
But in the top of the fifth, UBC surrendered a walk, a double, a single and two stolen bases before recording an out. DSU ended up with four hits and four runs in the inning to tie the game.The Blue Hawks got the game-winning run in the sixth when JaNell LaRont hit a single to score Monique Yslas.
Kaplen and Dypchey got singles in the home half of the sixth but the 'Birds couldn't bring either of them home, eventually falling by a run.
Starting pitcher
Leigh Della Siega took the loss after pitching seven innings for UBC and fell to 2-4 on the season.
In the second game of the day, Olivet Nazarene scored eight unanswered runs to record a 10-2 victory.
The Thunderbirds will play three games on Sunday in Tucson. They will meet Doane College (Neb.) at 9 a.m., followed by a 1:30 p.m matchup against Presentation College and a rematch with Dickinson State at 3:30 p.m.
