VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds (6-7, 12-17) opened up the brand new Thunderbird Park in fine fashion with a pair of wins over the visiting Oregon Tech Hustlin' Owls (4-9, 12-20) Saturday.
A clutch three run eighth inning which included the first ever home run in the new park by
Jaxon Valcke saw the 'Birds take the first half of the doubleheader 7-6. UBC then followed up with another come back performance with an
Anthony Olson walk off single in the bottom of the 14
th as the 'Birds move within a single game of .500 in conference play.
"They played well, I thought we played well, it was a back-and-forth type thing and the guys were scrapping the whole time," said UBC head coach
Chris Pritchett. "Even when we got down three a couple times, they never quit and they battled back in both games so I was really proud of that."
Game One
It was a day full of firsts for UBC's shiny new stadium as the 'Birds scored their first ever run on the new field with a two-out single by Valcke as the home side took a 1-0 lead into the second inning.
Still up by one to begin the bottom of the third,
Anthony Cusati hit a double to right-centre to get on base for his second straight at bat. Butler then hit a double of his own, all the way to the left-centre field wall to score Cusati, doubling the 'Birds' lead.
Lucas Soper kept the ball rolling for UBC hitting a single to right to increase the UBC lead to 3-0.
The Owls got on the board in the top of the fifth when first baseman Josh Kallstrom hit a two RBI single to left scoring both Blake Wrotenbery and Kai Fong. With two on and two down, UBC starting pitcher
Niall Windeler got Justin Jordan to fly out keeping UBC ahead into the bottom half of the inning.
The 'Birds went to the bullpen to start the sixth with
Jack Caswell entering the game who kept UBC's lead intact. Windeler finished with the no decision allowing two earned runs on three hits with five strikeouts.
Pat van den Brink came in to pitch the top of the eighth with a two run lead for the 'Birds but quickly found himself with two runners in scoring position after a Poltz single and a Kallstrom double. Justin Jordan then hit a triple to the centre field wall to score both and tie the game at four. The Owls proceeded to take their first lead of the game on a Ryan Riepma sacrifice fly that scored Jordan who beat out a play at the plate.
The 'Birds tied the game on their first batter in the bottom half of the inning when Valcke hit the first homerun at the new park on the first pitch issued by reliever James Bedortha. The ball hit the top of the right field wall for Valcke's third hit of the game. Bedortha was chased after just two batters when he hit
John Whaley.
After a
Kyle McComb single to right, Whaley scored on a fielder's choice to put UBC back in front.
Jake Lanferman scored on a double steal to restore the two-run 'Birds' lead which they would not relinquish.
Game Two
The second half of the home opener doubleheader saw the visitors stake themselves out to a 3-0 lead by the middle of the third.
The 'Birds got on the board in the bottom of the inning when Whaley scored from third on an
Austen Butler ground out.
After tying the game at three heading to the eighth, UBC replaced starter
Adam McKillican with
Brad Smith who went the rest of the way on the mound for the Thunderbirds. McKillican allowed three earned runs on five hits while striking out eight.
After going two innings without a base runner, Smith kicked off the tenth issuing a walk to Kevin Montgomery. Micah Jio came in as a pinch runner and eventually made his way to third on a Fong groundout and a steal. Jio then crossed the plate as the go-ahead run thanks to a Kallstrom single to shallow left. The Owls took a two run lead on a wild pitch and went ahead by three with a Poltz sacrifice fly.
With their backs against the wall, the 'Birds came through in the bottom of the tenth. Down to their last out, Soper doubled to left followed by a Braedan Allemann single to bring Cusati to the plate. The senior stepped up and hit his second home run of the season over the left field wall, a three run shot to tie the game at three and force the game to continue.
After three scoreless innings, McComb led off the 14
th with a single to left. Butler executed a sacrifice bunt to advance McComb into scoring position with Olson up to bat, tying a UBC record with his seventh plate appearance of the game. The senior second baseman made it a memorable one as he singled up the middle to drive home the game winning run as the 'Birds completed the doubleheader sweep.
"When you have some success it adds that belief factor so it just makes it easier to stay in the ball game when you get behind," said Pritchett who saw a commitment to sticking with the process and managing at bats pay off while getting an exceptional relief performance from Smith. "Brad came in and instead of being one inning and then saving him for tomorrow, he ends up throwing six plus innings and he just got better as he went so I'm really proud of him for stepping up and he really picked us up today and gave us a chance to win."
A perfect 2-0 to start play at their new park, the T-Birds can clinch their first series win of the season with a victory Sunday. A doubleheader with the Owls begins at 11:00 a.m. PT.
