VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds slugged their way to a four-run bottom of the eighth in game two of their doubleheader with LC State on Saturday, giving them an 8-6 win and a split after the Warriors took game one 8-3 in Lewiston, Idaho.
The T-Birds entered the eighth down two, but after
Bruce Yari led off the inning with a single,
Bryan Arthur crushed a two-run homer over the right field fence to tie the game up. After
Brendan Rose walked, senior second baseman
Matt Spillman doubled to centre to drive in the game-winning run. Spillman later scored an insurance run on
Max Hollingworth's RBI triple.
Arthur went 4-for-4 with four RBIs, finishing a double shy of hitting for the cycle. He also came in off the bench to go 1-for-2 in game one to finish with five hits on the day. Hollingworth was 3-for-5 in both games to lead the 'Birds with six hits on the day.Â
Curtis Taylor got the win, throwing 2.1 innings in relief and allowing one run on three hits.
Matt Thornton shut the Warriors down in the ninth to get the save.
Jeremy Newton got the start, lasting 5.2 innings and allowing five runs on 11 hits, striking out five.
UBC put up three runs in the first inning off a
Kevin Biro RBI single and Arthur's two-run triple. But the Warriors answered right back with three runs of their own in the second, and they took the lead with a two-run sixth that ended Newton's start. UBC got a lone run in the fourth on a Spillman RBI single, and the Warriors added one more in the top of the eighth before the T-Birds' big rally.
Gunnar Swanson went five innings and allowed four runs on eight hits to start for the Warriors. Steve Thompson took the loss, allowing four runs on five hits over the last three innings.
Game one was a similar pattern that just didn't turn out as well for the 'Birds. Like game two, they took the lead right out of the gate, scoring a run in the first on a Hollingworth RBI double. The Warriors took chased starter
Conor Lillis-White from the game after five complete innings in which he allowed just one run, but LC State got into the driver's seat in the sixth when, partially aided by an error early in the inning, they put up a five-spot on
Alex Webb to go up 6-1.
The Warriors tacked on another two in the seventh before
Tyler Gillies pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth for UBC, and the 'Birds had another late rally, scoring two in the ninth, but it was too little too late.
Kevin Biro and
Bruce Yari each had three hits on the day for UBC. Jake Shirley led the Warriors with a 5-for-8 line and four RBIs.
The Warriors are now 11-3 overall and 2-1 in conference play, while the T-Birds are 8-5 and 1-2. The teams finish up their four-game series on Sunday at noon.
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