KEIZER, Ore. – The host Corban (Ore.) Warriors won both games of a crucial NAIA West Grouping baseball doubleheader by scores of 9-5 and 7-4 over the visiting UBC Thunderbirds Friday in Keizer, Ore.
 
The Warriors (14-23-1, 12-12 NAIA West) move back to .500 in conference play with the two triumphs. The Thunderbirds (19-16, 14-8 NAIA W.) now sit in second in the NAIA West standings. Four of UBC's eight league losses this year have come against Corban.

Game 1

Brandon Hupe gave the Thunderbirds a 1-0 lead in the opener with a single through the right side to score Noah Or.
 
UBC re-took the lead with a pair of runs in the top of the four with Zach Prisciak's two-RBI single to left field to plate Jordan Dray and Austen Butler.
 
After Ben Ross hit a home run for Corban over the fence in left-center field in the fourth, the Warriors posted four more runs on Maxwell Jeffrey, Estenio Sede, Jared Berard, and Jared Bell RBI singles in the fifth inning to forge a 6-3 lead in support of Warrior ace Jonathan Russomano. 
 
The Thunderbirds would get one back in the seventh on a run-scoring single from Hupe, but Corban put the game out of reach with a trio of insurance runs in the bottom half of the eighth. 
 
Hupe scored on a Butler sacrifice fly in the ninth.
 

Both teams combine for over 40 hits in Friday's doubleheader as the 'Birds fall to Corban ??

Game 1@BrandonHupe 4-5, 2 RBI, 2B
Noah Or 4-5, 2 R, 2B

Game 2@Fitz_Mike4 3-4, R, RBI, 2B@jaxvalcke 3-5

Rematch doubleheader begins tomorrow at 12pm
??: Bob Frid | #ubcbaseball pic.twitter.com/xHzZmYtPth

— UBC Baseball (@ubc_baseball) April 13, 2019

 

Game 2

Zachary Filos got the ball in Game 2 for the Warriors, and he delivered a strong six-inning effort (nine hits, three runs) on the bump to earn his fourth win of the 2019 campaign. Jackson Arnsdorf earned his first save of the season in relief, tossing three innings and allowing just one run to seal the doubleheader sweep.

It was once again Sede serving as the sparkplug, as he gave Corban a 2-0 lead in the first with a two-run double into the right-center gap. The Navy and Gold would tack on lone runs in each of the next three innings as well, courtesy of an RBI double from Jeffrey in the second, a Tanner Marsh single in the third, and a solo shot from Daniel Freiburger in the fourth.

UBC continually forced Filos to work out of trouble in his six innings of work, scoring in three-straight innings (from the second to the fourth) and registering a hit in every frame except the ninth. Filos was able to limit the damage during the high-stress middle innings, however, as Thunderbirds stranded 11 baserunners in the Game 2 defeat.
 
In the second, Nolan Weger hit an RBI double to right center field to post UBC's first run.
 
Ty Penner singled down the left-field line and Mike Fitzsimmons hit a sacrifice fly to centre to score single runs in the third and fourth innings, respectively.
 
Dray hit a solo home run in the eighth to get the Thunderbirds back within two runs of Corban at 6-4, but UBC couldn't get any closer.
 
Fitzsimmons (3-for-4, run, RBI) and Jaxon Valcke (3-for-5) each collected a trio of hits in the contest.

For the Warriors, Josh Ebert was once again exceptional out of the leadoff spot, going 3-for-4 to notch his second-consecutive multi-hit performance.
 
The two teams will return to the diamond tomorrow, with the doubleheader now scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. at Volcanoes Stadium.