SURREY, B.C. – Three come-from-behind wins including two walk off saw the UBC Thunderbirds (14-13, 17-21) sweep the Northwest Christian Beacons (6-21, 10-35) to clinch a berth in next weekend's conference championship tournament.
A seven run fifth inning powered the 'Birds to an 8-5 series opening win that officially booked their ticket to the post-season.
In game two of the tripleheader, the 'Birds found themselves tied at five in the bottom of the seventh. With two down and extra innings imminent,
Emily Chorpita singled to centre and then got into scoring position on a wild pitch with
Sydney Brown at the plate. The senior shortstop then ensured extra innings wouldn't be necessary after all hitting the walk off single to centre.
Photo by Wilson Wong/UBC Thunderbirds
Things looked even more dire in the finale when UBC entered the bottom of the seventh down four runs. But some incredible at bats, heads up base running, and a key Beacons' error saw the 'Birds complete the comeback and sweep their second straight conference series.
"In all my years of coaching, I've never had three games in a row where we've come back like that and never a game like this one where we scored five runs in the last inning to win the game, it was just remarkable," said UBC head coach
Gord Collings. "I'm just so, so proud of these girls. The never give up attitude they have, the way they play for each other, this confidence they have, I'm just so proud of them."
Game One
Tied at one apiece heading into the fourth, Beacons' catcher Avery Daniels hit a leadoff double all the way to the left field fence. Then with two on and none out, Ereanna Higbee grounded out but picked up the RBI to put the visitors back in front. UBC starting pitcher
Emma Tuson limited the damage by sitting down her next two batters.
Northwest Christian added to their lead in the fifth scoring two more runs to take a 4-1 lead.
Undeterred, UBC had a monster bottom half plating seven runs to take the lead. After an
Ashley Jacob leadoff single, Chorpita hit an RBI double.
Paige Harbord,
Sierra Sherritt, Frances Ramsey,
Shaelyn Ogilvie, and
Natasha Aisenstat all hit RBI singles to stake out an 8-4 Thunderbird lead, four of those runs coming with two out.
The Beacons got one run back in the seventh but couldn't pull any closer as the 'Birds held on for the playoff clinching win and their fourth straight conference victory.
Tuson earned her ninth win of the season tagged with four earned runs on 12 hits.
Game Two
The Beacons once again came storming out of the gate, this time plating three runs in the first inning.
UBC got one back in the bottom half when Sherritt hit an RBI single scoring
Claire Eccles who got on base with a two-out single of her own.
The 'Birds managed to tie the game in the second thanks to two more two-out singles. Brown snuck a single to centre and Ogilvie got on her horse, scoring from second. Harbord then hit her second RBI single of the day.
Photo by Wilson Wong/UBC Thunderbirds
The T-Birds threatened to take their first lead of the game in the bottom of the third when Sherritt beat the throw from third for her third hit of the afternoon. After Ogilvie grounded out into a double play that advanced Sherritt to third,
Mackenzie Siddall singled up the middle to plate Sherritt putting UBC in front, 4-3.
The Beacons didn't manage to score again until the top of the sixth when they got two runs across to tie the game at five apiece. Alyssa Gayle hit a sacrifice fly to pull the visitors within one and then Daniels nailed an RBI double to left centre.
Undeterred yet again, the 'Birds had some more dramatics in store, this time courtesy of Brown's walk-off single.
Zoe Gillis had another strong game with the complete game win for the 'Birds allowing five runs, three of them earned, on 10 Beacon hits while striking out three.
Game Three
With the Beacons up 4-3 in the fourth, Eccles tied the finale with a ground rule double after the ball landed just at the foot of the right field fence and rolled underneath.
The Beacons went back in front thanks to a two-out, two RBI double by Madi Novelli in the top of the fifth. The 'Birds then went to the pen ending
Chantelle Twynstra's outing with Tuson making her second appearance of the day on the mound. But her first batter, Kelsey Hansen, promptly doubled down the left field line bringing home another run and giving Northwest Christian a 7-4 lead.
Photo by Rich Lam/UBC Thunderbirds
Some terrific base running by the Thunderbirds in the bottom of the fifth saw Siddall score all the way from second after first stealing third and then making it home on a Beacons throwing error. A Chorpita ground out RBI brought UBC back within a run. Sherritt's terrific day at the plate continued with a stand-up double down the left field line that plated two more runs and put UBC back in front, 8-7.
But the back and forth continued in the sixth with the Beacons putting up four runs to go up 11-8. The T-Birds were unable to respond in their half and headed to the final frame still down by three.
The Beacons added one more run in their half of the seventh as the 'Birds were up against it, facing their first home conference loss in seven games.
Photo by Wilson Wong/UBC Thunderbirds
But with the bases loaded and one down, Ogilvie singled up the middle to bring in two runs cutting the Beacons' lead to two. Siddall followed up with her fourth hit of the game to bring in another run to bring the deficit to a single run. Fittingly, it was a trio of seniors that secured the unlikely comeback win for the 'Birds as Brown tied it with an RBI single before Siddall scored on a fielding error when Harbord grounded the ball to shortstop.
"She was amazing," said Collings of Siddall who finished the game 4/5 with an RBI and three runs scored. "This is her day, she's on the cover of our program for a reason, she is just one very special person and she showed it out on the field too."
The 'Birds' sweep will allow them to finish fifth in the league standings, heading into the conference championship tournament starting next Friday, May 4.
