VANCOUVER - Amidst a torrential downpour at Thunderbird Park, the UBC Thunderbirds baseball team fell 5-2 to the Lewis-Clark State Warriors on Saturday afternoon, in the second of the two clubs' three-game series this weekend.
Lichel Hirakawa-Kao (Vancouver) and
Anthony Cusati (Burnaby, B.C.) each bagged a hit and a run for the Blue and Gold, while pitcher
Curtis Taylor (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) had a mixed day, giving up five hits and two runs, but striking out eight, in just five innings.
Third baseman Robert Smith had a monster day for the Warriors, going 4-for-5 at the plate with two doubles, three runs, and an RBI. On the mound, Jake Barnett earned the win in five innings of work, striking out two batters while surrendering a single earned run.
The weather, which caused delays in the fifth and seventh innings, was miserable, something that wasn't on UBC head coach
Chris Pritchett when assessing his club's performance.
"Both teams just tried to get through this," admitted Pritchett after the rain-soaked affair. "It was trying to perform under these conditions, but I think both teams were mentally tough and gutted it out. Someone had to win, someone had to lose – if I'm honest, it wasn't a lot of fun, and we just didn't get the result we wanted."
Tied 1-1 in the fifth inning, back-to-back doubles helped the Idahoans break the deadlock. First, Smith hit a two-base shot, only to be driven in by the next batter, designated hitter J.J. Robinson, who smashed a double of his own to left.
With the bases loaded in the seventh inning, UBC reliever
Ethan Skuija walked Warriors second baseman Gunnar Buhner to score Smith from third.
With the bases loaded yet again in the eighth, Smith singled, allowing center fielder Micah Brown to put the Warriors up 4-1. Lewis-Clark State added another on the next batter when a wild pitch from UBC's
Jeremy Newton (Toronto) gave Logan Griffin the chance to cross home plate.
Hirakawa-Kao scored from third on a throwing error in the 'Birds half of the eighth frame, but that was all UBC could muster in the comeback attempt.
With one win apiece, the 'Birds will take on Lewis-Clark State once more to wrap up the series tomorrow. The first pitch is set to be thrown out at 11:00 a.m. (PT).
