VANCOUVER — Despite scoring in the top of the first inning, the UBC Thunderbirds couldn't add to their lead or make it stand up, eventually dropping a 3-1 decision Thursday night to Keio University in the Collegiate Baseball Classic at Tourmaline West Stadium.
Nolan Weger reached base in the top of the first, singling off Keio starter Yuki Takahashi. After Weger got to second on a wild pitch, he was driven home on a single by
Austen Butler.
Unfortunately that was all the offence UBC was able to muster against a tough combination of Keio pitchers. Takahashi was followed by Ryogo Takahashi while Taisei Tsurusaki pitched the final two innings. The trio combined for 17 strikeouts on the night.
"We jumped on them in the first inning and got a run but it was a tough assignment, these guys had some good arms," said UBC head coach
Chris Pritchett. "The only message I had to our guys is if a (pitcher) is able to do that and we get down two strikes, we just have to make a little bit of a change and just make it tougher on them."
UBC's lead held until the bottom of the fourth when Kento Nakamura led off the inning with a double off Thunderbirds starter
Jared Spearing. Walks to Tatsuru Yanagimachi, Tomoyo Misaki and Yuya Gunji followed which pushed across the tying run while the go-ahead run was the result of a groundball double play off the bat of Sho Shimada.
Staked to a lead, Keio starter Takahashi struck out four of the last six hitters he faced before handing the ball over to Ryogo Takahashi with two out in the sixth. The reliever struck out all four hitters he saw in an inning and a third.
"They tend to have a lot of pitches they can throw for strikes pretty regularly so you're really looking for something hard out over the plate," said senior outfielder
Austen Butler, who went 2-4 on the night with an RBI. "(Tsurusaki) had a very good slider, his fastball was low to mid 90s and he brought a cutter that we definitely hadn't seen before. It was a lot tougher to pick up the spin on than anything that we've seen in this league or anything we've really faced to this point."
Spearing's performance on the mound stood out as a bright spot for UBC. Though he was tagged with the loss, he kept the 'Birds in the game and provided just what the team needed after an 8-1 defeat Wednesday to Sacramento State University.
"I thought Jared was great; really three batters, maybe four batters, where he just lost his command and they took advantage of it," said Pritchett. "Normally, you keep us in a game like that, we're gonna find a way to score three or four runs. Today we just couldn't do it."
Keio's third run came courtesy of a pair of singles and a stolen base in the bottom of the sixth. Spearing exited with one out, turning things over to
Barry Caine who worked two-and-two-thirds innings of solid relief allowing just one hit.
UBC drops to 1-2 at the tournament while Keio sits at 2-0-1. Next up for the Thunderbirds is a Saturday evening rematch with Sacramento State in one of two semifinals with the winner headed to Sunday's championship game. First pitch for the 'Birds Saturday is slated for 6:30 p.m. PT.
Earlier on Thursday, the University of Tokyo beat Sacramento State 8-0, making the Hornets pay for committing five errors. Tokyo designated hitter Kai Aoyama went 3-4 with three RBI. Tokyo will play Keio Saturday in a 2:30 p.m. PT start in the other semifinal.
