VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds were the victims of a breakout weekend by the College of Idaho's offence, as the Yotes swept Sunday's doubleheader 8-1 and 4-3 to take three of four games from UBC in the weekend series in Caldwell.
The College of Idaho did not have one of the more threatening offences in the conference heading into this weekend statistically speaking, while the UBC pitching staff led the conference in ERA. But the Yotes bucked that trend convincingly over the four-game set, racking up 28 runs on 49 hits, including double digit hit totals in all four games.
They broke game one open with a four-run third inning on five hits against UBC starter
Jeremy Newton. He managed to hang in for a full seven innings and allow just one more run, but Yotes starter Ryan Eddy had the T-Bird offence stymied for almost the entire game. He went 8.1 innings, allowing one run on six hits.
UBC got its lone run in the fifth on a
Bruce Yari RBI single. The Yotes tacked on one more against Newton in the seventh and three against reliever
Tyler Gillies in the eighth to make it an 8-1 final.
Yari had two hits and
Sebastian Wong had three, as they combined for five of UBC's six knocks in the game.
In game two, the T-Birds made a late charge to put themselves on top heading into the eighth, only for the Yotes to count two late runs to regain the lead and hang on for the 4-3 win.
UBC trailed 2-0 after five, but a
Mackenzie Parlow RBI single in the sixth, followed by RBI singles from Bruce Arther and
Tyler Enns in the seventh, put the 'Birds up 3-2.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Yotes got three straight singles and a walk against reliever
Curtis Taylor to chase him from the game and tie things up at three.
Matt Thornton took over on the mound with one out and the bases loaded, and although he did eventually get the big strikeout and then a flyout to end the inning, a wild pitch allowed the go-ahead run to come across for the Yotes.
The 'Birds got the tying run to second in the ninth after Wong singled and advanced on a groundout, but Yotes reliever Mitch Viydo managed to shut the door on that opportunity. He pitched the final three innings for the Yotes, giving up starter Markus Lively's lead, but regaining it in the end to get credit for the win.
Bryan Pawlina started for UBC, going five innings and allowing two runs on eight hits, with three strikeouts. Taylor pitched 2.1 innings and allowed two runs on four hits.
Yari had another three hits to make it a 5-for-9 day for him. He was 9-for-18 in the series to lead UBC offensively. Wong was also red-hot in the series, going 7-for-10 at the dish.
Tyler Enns was 4-for-12.
The T-Birds are now 23-9 overall and 14-6 in conference play. They remain on the road next weekend for a four-game set against Corban College in Salem, Oregon. Their next home series is against Simpson University on April 18 and 19 at Thunderbird Park.
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