LA GRANDE, Ore. – The UBC softball team earned a pair of big Cascade Collegiate Conference wins Saturday in comeback fashion against one of the league's top programs as the Thunderbirds (10-19, 7-12 CCC) continued their chase for a playoff spot. UBC beat host Eastern Oregon (20-13, 14-6 CCC) 4-3 and 11-5 in nine innings before falling in the series finale 3-1 at Peggy Anderson Field in La Grande, Ore.
 
The results moved the Thunderbirds into a virtual tie with College of Idaho for the sixth and final CCC post-season berth. UBC has two games in hand on C of I; the T-Birds will contest two games Sunday in Caldwell, Idaho against No. 13 Corban (Ore.).
 

GAME 1 – UBC 4, Eastern Oregon 3

The Mountaineers got off to a 1-0 lead in the opening game of the series on Friday before rain halted it after two innings. The game resumed on Saturday, with the Thunderbirds grabbing a 2-1 lead in the third on two unearned runs. Claire Eccles scored a two-out run on a dropped catch by EOU's first baseman. The next batter, Frances Ramsay, singled to second base to bring home Shaelyn Ogilvie.
 
The hosts answered with a two-run home run by Bobbi Bertsch, her fourth of the season, in the bottom of the third.
 
EOU held the 3-2 lead behind a strong performance by senior pitcher Hailey Kline, until UBC scored two runs in the sixth on a two-RBI single by Sydney Brown. Ashley Jacob led off the sixth with a single to left field, and eventually moved to second on a passed ball. Mackenzie Siddall then walked on five pitches, setting the stage for Brown, who singled up the middle to plate both Jacob and Siddall.
 
The Mountaineers opened the bottom of the sixth with back-to-back singles, but UBC starting pitcher Emma Tuson got EOU's Madison Barr to hit into a double play, and the induced a foul out from Brandi Bowling to maintain the lead for the Thunderbirds.
 
The hosts got another runner on in the bottom of the sixth but were unable to scratch across the tying run.

Tuson (5-6) scattered nine hits over seven innings to earn her third complete-game victory in a row.
 

In addition to Brown, Jacob and Ramsay, UBC got hits from Eccles, Paige Harbord and Sierra Sherritt.
 

GAME 2 – UBC 11, Eastern Oregon 5 (nine innings)

The Thunderbirds overcame a five-run deficit to force extra innings, before earning the 11-5 triumph in nine.
 
The Mountaineers looked in control to win the second game of the series after a four-run fifth inning to take a 5-0 lead.
 
However, UBC started the comeback by plating a one run in the sixth on a Jacob RBI single to left field, which allowed Sherritt to reach home. The T-Birds then shocked the hosts by posting four more runs in the top of the seventh to tie the game 5-5.
 
Pinch hitter Logan Bailey led off with a single to right center. Brown singled through the right side to move Siddall, who replaced Bailey on the base paths, to second. Harbord loaded the bases on an infield single. After a fly out, Sherritt drew a walk to score Siddall. Brown came home on an ensuing wild pitch. Frances Ramsay loaded the bases again by reaching on a single to third. Michaela Moore then delivered the big blow of the inning, driving a two-RBI single to right center to score Harbord and Sherritt to even the score. In total, UBC had five hits and a walk in the inning, and was also helped by a pair of EOU wild pitches.
 

?? SB | @UBCSoftball went 2-1 at Eastern Oregon today. In Game 2, #UBC came back from 5-0 down force extra innings & win 11-5. Here's Michaela Moore with the game-tying 2-run double in the seventh. ??: @EOUAthletics

SERIES RECAP: https://t.co/cvqLhw73n9 #GoBirdsGo pic.twitter.com/vwrJDRXEYA

— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) April 15, 2018

Both teams were held scoreless until the ninth inning when UBC took a stranglehold of the game with six runs. In the inning, the Thunderbirds tallied just three hits, but were helped out by three EOU errors.
 
The first of those errors allowed Ramsay to reach base to open the ninth. After a fly out, Jacob singled up the middle. Pinch hitter Ogilvie walked to load the bases. Siddall then reached on an error, allowing Ramsay to give UBC the 6-5 advantage. Back to the top of the batting order, Brown delivered her fourth hit of the game – a single to center, to plate Jacob and force an EOU pitching change.
 
The Mountaineers got a force out at home on the next play. Eccles came to bat with the bases still loaded. She proceeded to double to left center to score all three runners, advancing to third on the throw back to the infield. Eccles then scored on a throwing error by the EOU left fielder to round out the offensive output by UBC.
 
With Mountaineers on second and third, and two out, Thunderbird pitcher Zoe Gillis got Rayne Spencer to line out to end the contest.
 
Gillis (3-9) recorded a complete game with 141 pitches, allowing five runs over nine innings. Brown went 4-for-5 at the dish for the Thunderbirds while Eccles had two hits and three runs batted in. Moore and Jacob also had a pair of hits.
 

Bonner put the Mounties on the board first with an RBI groundout in the fourth inning. Then in the fifth, senior third baseman Chelsea Spanier drove home junior catcher Brandi Bowling with an RBI single, followed by junior first baseman Shevan Defreitas' team-leading eighth home run, a three-run shot that put EOU up 5-0.
 

GAME 3 – Eastern Oregon 3, UBC 1

The hosts got a standout start from junior pitcher Lauren Spencer who, after finishing Game 2, was nearly untouchable in a complete game 3-1 victory in the series finale. Spencer (4-3) threw her first complete game as a Mountaineer, allowing one unearned run on just three hits. The junior pitched to her defence well, getting 11 of the 21 outs on the ground.
 
UBC's lone run came in the second inning when Jacob singled to second base to score Moore.
 
The Mountaineers replied in the fourth on a two-RBI single by Defreitas. In the fifth inning, freshman Julie Hernandez scored an insurance run on a wild pitch after pinch running.
 
UBC starting pitcher Chantelle Twynstra threw her third complete game in a row, but took the loss despite giving up just four hits and three runs, two of which were earned.
 
With Saturday's results, UBC is 6-3 in its last nine outings.
 
The Thunderbirds will travel to Caldwell, Idaho, where they will play a pivotal Sunday doubleheader against the 13th-ranked Corban (Ore.) Warriors. The games were originally scheduled for March in Surrey, but were postponed because of inclement weather. The first pitch is slated for 9 a.m. PT.