KEIZER, Ore. – The UBC Thunderbirds and Corban (Ore.) Warriors split an NAIA West doubleheader Sunday at Volcanoes Stadium in Keizer, Ore.

The Thunderbirds took game one by a 7-3 score, with the Warriors claiming the second half of the doubleheader in walk-off fashion, 3-2 in 10 innings.

In Game 1, the Thunderbirds struck early and often against Warrior starter Hector Sepulveda. The potent UBC offence plated six runs in the first three frames, taking a commanding early lead.

The Navy and Gold got a first-inning boost from Estenio Sede, who blasted a no-doubter to right for his fourth long ball of the year.

Unfortunately for the Warriors, however, Adam Maier settled down to turn in six quality innings of work after that, scattering six hits and allowing just two runs overall.

Zack Simon served as a bright spot for Corban in the defeat, producing five and two-thirds innings (six strikeouts) of scoreless relief.

Seven members of the Thunderbirds' starting nine recorded a hit in the triumph, with Cameron Sanderson (2-for-4) and Ryan Beitel (2-for-5) leading the charge.

Jordan Dray opened the scoring for UBC with an RBI single to centre field in the top of the first inning bringing home Ty Penner.
 
The T-Birds added three runs in the second inning.  Sanderson hit an RBI single to right field to score Beitel. Sanderson later crossed home plate on a Jake Lanferman double down the right field line. Lanferman eventually scored on a balk to make it 4-1.
 
Beitel hit a double down the left field line to bring home Noah Or in the top of the third forcing a Corban pitching change. Beitel made it 6-1 after touching home on a fielder's choice.
 
Penner scored UBC's final run in the ninth. He stole third and then came home as a teammate was caught in a rundown.
 

View this post on Instagram

'Birds battle Warriors to a Sunday split, resulting in a 2-2 weekend series in Oregon ?? ? Game 1 @_adammaier W/6.0 IP/2 R/2 ER/1 BB/5 K @csanderson2 2-4/1 R/1 RBI @ryan_beitel7 2-5/2 R/RBI-double ? Game 2 @barrycaine10 6.2 IP/2 ER/1 BB/6 K @austenbutlerr 3-4/2 R/1 SB ? ??: @bobfridimages | #GoBirdsGo

A post shared by UBC Baseball (@ubcbaseball) on Mar 8, 2020 at 7:26pm PDT

Starters Zach Filos (6 IP, 1 ER, 6 K) and Barry Caine (6.2 IP, 2 ER, 6 K) went toe-to-toe in the back half of Sunday's doubleheader, setting the tone for the low-scoring affair. 

Corban struck first on a sun-aided double from Kairos Torres-Umi in the fourth, but UBC answered immediately with a run of its own in the following half inning as Lanferman hit a sacrifice fly to score Austen Butler.

The Thunderbirds took the lead in the seventh with Butler scoring again, this time on an error, but the Warriors tied it up in the bottom of the stanza on a clutch RBI double from Maxwell Jeffrey.

Jeffrey finished the contest 3-for-5 at the dish, reaching base four times.

Deadlocked at 2-2, the Warriors had a chance to win it in the bottom of the ninth. With the bases loaded and just one out, Thunderbird reliever James Bradwell struck out both Torres-Umi and Nate Cantonwine to force extras.

Creating the exact same situation in the following stanza, the Warriors wouldn't let the opportunity go to waste a second time. Josh Ebert played the hero, slapping a fastball to right to score Jack Ossenkop.

Butler ended the game with three hits in four at-bats, while Sanderson and Beitel were both 2-for-4.
 
The Thunderbirds have next weekend off from NAIA West play, but will compete in a significant non-conference tournament, the Grizzly Classic at Georgia Gwinnett in Lawrenceville, Ga., Friday to Sunday. UBC will face NAIA Top 10 teams Georgia Gwinnett and Indiana Tech two times each.