VANCOUVER – Outfielders Shayla Kaplen (Richmond, B.C.) and Paige Harbord (Delta, B.C.) combined for eight runs batted in as the UBC Thunderbirds earned an 11-7 triumph in Game 1 of a doubleheader against the Eastern Oregon Mountaineers in La Grande, Ore., Friday. The hosts replied with a 2-0 Game 2 shutout to earn the split.
 
Prior to the first pitch, both teams shared a moment of silence for EOU student Hanna Doig-Cashell, who died on Monday evening in a car accident involving three people.
 
Game 1 featured a back-and-fourth affair before UBC's Kaplen belted a three-run homer amidst a four-run sixth inning to propel the Thunderbirds past EOU.
 
Kaplen had quite the afternoon for UBC, going 3-for-3 at the dish with five RBI. Harbord also homered for the Thunderbirds, and Hillary Strelau (Richmond, B.C.) and Frances Ramsay (Vancouver) added two hits apiece.
 
Both senior first baseman Marisa Gonzalez and junior designated player Lauren Burchak homered for the Mountaineers, while junior left fielder Taylor Turner batted 3-for-4.
 
Sophomore pitcher Hailey Kline amassed three strikeouts in the losing effort, while junior pitcher Haylie Van Laethemforced 11 groundouts in five innings.
 
In the circle, Lindsey Ogilvie (Surrey, B.C.) collected her seventh win and tossed four K's.
 
With the game tied at one apiece in the third, Harbord delivered the two-run shot to center to put UBC on top, 3-1. It was her first home run as a T-Bird. Gonzalez replicated Harbord's effort in the bottom half the frame, belting a two-run homer in the same exact spot to even the affair at three apiece.
 
EOU coughed up a couple errors in the fourth, and the Thunderbirds made the Mountaineers pay with four runs on three hits.
 
Trailing by four (7-3) in the fifth, junior third baseman Jorden Gerlach and Turner recorded singles, and then junior right fielder Cheyenne Barker popped a sac fly to cut the deficit to three. Gonzalez drew a two-out walk, and then Burchak smacked a three-run homer to retie the contest.
 
The Mountaineers found themselves facing a two-on, no-out jam in the sixth, and UBC recorded an RBI single before Kaplen mustered her three-run homer to put the Thunderbirds back up by four (11-7).
 
EOU went hitless in the sixth before leaving one runner stranded in the seventh, and UBC closed the seesaw battle with a double play to snag the opener.

In Game 2, second-year EOU pitcher Hailey Kline posted four strikeouts to notch her 11th victory of the season and yielded only three hits in the winning effort.
 
Senior shortstop Haley Hess batted 2-for-3 to pace EOU, while three players, Harbord, Olivia Priestlay (Delta, B.C.) and Montana Turnovitski (Langley, B.C.), tallied one hit apiece for the T-Birds. The hits from Harbord and Turnovitski were triples.
 
Despite a strong complete-game performance, UBC pitcher Zoe Gillis (Delta, B.C.) suffered her sixth loss of the season for the Thunderbirds, compiling one strikeout and surrendering just six hits.
 
EOU plated the first run of the game in the second stanza. Sophomore second baseman Maryssa Santi drew a two-out walk and ultimately stole second, and then junior catcher Alex Shuster mustered an RBI single to make it a 1-0 game.
 
In the fourth, the Mountaineers added an insurance run to extend their lead to two, as Gerlach smashed a single up the middle on the first pitch to drive home her twin sister, junior pinch runner Taylor Gerlach.
 
UBC (11-22, 9-15 Cascade Collegiate Conference) will now travel to Caldwell, Idaho, to face the College of Idaho Coyotes in a Saturday doubleheader. Game 1 will begin at 10 a.m. PT.