VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds (15-9, 21-19) got some tremendous pitching performances while
Anthony Cusati hit a two-run homer for a 2-1 win over the No. 4 Lewis-Clark State Warriors (16-3, 26-7) Sunday afternoon to earn the series split.
Braeden Allemann had his first start for the 'Birds and was tremendous going five complete innings with nine strikeouts while allowing just the one run on two hits.
UBC finished the game with only four hits of their own but along with solid work on the mound, the T-Birds' fielding was just as strong.
"Any time it's close and you're playing LC you know you got to be on top of your game and I thought our guys did enough to win today, the pitching was outstanding," said UBC head coach
Chris Pritchett who saw his team bounce back from a pair of blowout losses. "To respond today and come out and play hard and lock this one down was really big for us."
The Warriors' only run of the game came in the top of the second when Kyle Callahan hit a leadoff homer to right.
Allemann didn't allow another hit until the fourth when Kasey Bailey singled up the middle, but the senior righty struck out his next three batters for a total of seven strikeouts through four innings.
Photo by Wilson Wong/UBC Thunderbirds
Jack Caswell came in to pitch the sixth for UBC and despite allowing a leadoff single, got out of the inning unscathed as the score remained 1-0 LC.
In their half, the 'Birds got a leadoff walk from
Jake Lanferman who advanced to second on a wild pitch with Cusati at the plate. The veteran catcher then blasted his fourth home run of the season to right as UBC took the lead for the first time.
All three combined runs came courtesy of the long ball with just the two scoring plays all game.
Caswell was replaced by Pat van den Brink with one down and none on in the eighth. The right-handed reliever sat down the next two batters as UBC continued to dominate on the mound.
Van den Brink earned the save with a perfect 1.2 innings of work sitting down all five batters he faced. Caswell picked up his first win of the season allowing just a single hit while striking out three batters through two and a third innings.
All told, the 'Birds struck out 15 batters and limited the fourth-ranked Warriors to just three hits all game.
"
Braeden Allemann stepped up and just did an awesome job starting and everyone that came in was outstanding," added Pritchett. "Their guys were too, that was a tough one. It all came down really to just two swings. I thought it was really well played, it was a fun game to be a part of and I'm really proud of our guys."
UBC's three wins on the season against Lewis-Clark are the only conference losses for the Warriors who are on the road again next weekend for a series against the College of Idaho Yotes.
The T-Birds finish up a long home stand with their final series of the season at Thunderbird Park next weekend against the visiting Corban Warriors with a pair of doubleheaders Saturday and Sunday.
