CALDWELL, Idaho – The UBC Thunderbirds used a 18-hit attack in the opener and rallied in the late innings of Game 2 to complete a NAIA West doubleheader sweep of College of Idaho at Wolfe Field.
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UBC (17-11, 12-3 NAIA West) hit three home runs in a 15-3 victory in Game 1, with
Garrett Hawkins outdueling Tyler Hilton in a 3-0 victory in the nightcap.
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The T-Birds scored in all but one inning in the early game, with Brendan Hupe slugging a long two-run homer in the third inning to give the Canadian school a 6-1 lead. UBC would break the game wide open in the fifth, as
Jaxon Valcke smashed a 3-run homer over the batters' eye in center, extending the lead to 11-1.
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C of I (13-21, 7-8) got a pair of runs back in the fifth – but UBC got a two-run triple from
Jordan Dray in the sixth and a second two-run blast from Hupe in the seventh to end the game due to the 10-run rule.
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Starter Jared Sparling went six innings, striking out six for the win, with Valcke going 4-for-5 for the T-Birds.
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Payton Lewis went 2-for-4 with a triple and two runs scored for the Yotes.
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Hawkins and Hilton matched zeroes for the first seven innings – Hawkins allowing singles to Austin Van Horne and Alec Hopkins, while Hilton took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, before a
Nolan Weger bloop single to right ended the no-no bid.
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In the eighth, UBC took the lead as
Noah Or led off with a double and scored on a C of I throwing error. The 'Birds added two insurance runs in the ninth on an RBI double from
Wyatt Schnorr and a
Mike Fitzsimmons RBI single.
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Hawkins went eight innings, walking just one and striking out 12 in the victory, with Hilton allowing just one run on five hits, fanning six in the losing effort.
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The two teams close out the series with an 11 a.m. MT / 10 a.m. single game tomorrow.
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