VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds earned a big 6-5 victory over The Master's (Calif.) Mustangs, the No. 10-ranked baseball team in the NAIA, on Tuesday in Santa Clarita, Calif.
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An RBI triple by centre fielder
Tyler Enns (East St. Paul, Man.) in the top of the seventh inning brought home first baseman
Bruce Yari (Waterloo, Ont.) for the game-winning score.
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The two squads battled back and forth, with the T-Birds posting the first four runs of the game.Â
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In the third inning, Enns hit a sacrifice fly to centre field to score second baseman
Anthony Olson (Edmonton) to make it 1-0. Then the next batter, designated hitter
Lucas Soper (Vancouver) doubled to right to plate Yari.
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UBC added two more runs in the top of the fourth. Left fielder
Brendan Rose (Calgary) hit a double – his second of the day – to right score third baseman
Anthony Cusati (Burnaby, B.C.). Then Rose crossed home place on an Olson single to centre. The T-Birds went into the home half of the fourth ahead 4-0.
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But the Mustangs replied with four straight runs to tie the score. The hosts got on the scoreboard with an unearned run on an error.
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Then in fifth, Master's added three more to tie the game 4-4.
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Olson doubled to right centre in the sixth inning to score shortstop
Kyle McComb (Surrey, B.C.) to help the T-Birds regain the lead at 5-4.
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The Mustangs evened the score with a run of their own in the bottom of the sixth, before UBC finally went ahead for good on Enns' triple in the seventh.
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T-Birds' hurler
Christian Botnick (Brampton, Ont.) struck out four batters in 2.1 scoreless innings in relief of starter
Connor Noble (Vancouver) to earn the victory.
Tyler Gillies (London, Ont.) threw the final 1.2 innings to earn his second save of the season.
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Olson and Yari were both 3-for-5 at the plate, while Rose was 2-for-3. Enns and Olson both had two runs batted in.
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Next up for the T-Birds is the Inaugural JetHawks Collegiate Baseball Classic in Lancaster, Calif., where UBC will play four games – two each against California State Los Angeles and California State San Bernardino.
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UBC and CSUSB will open the tournament on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
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