VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds returned to Tourmaline West Stadium Saturday afternoon and leveraged strong and balanced bats to sweep the Eastern Oregon Mountaineers, taking the first game 10-4 and the second outing 6-3.
"I think we adjusted quickly today," said UBC Head Coach
Chris Pritchett. "In the past we've kind of waited a couple of times through the order to see what the pitcher was doing. I thought we adjusted after the first inning in the first game and I think that's why we had success today. We were able to take what they gave us and stick to our plan at the plate so it was a step forward for our offence."
UBC's
Shane Laforest was dialed in on the mound in game one, making quick work of the visitors with a three up three down first inning.
The 'Birds attacked Eastern Oregon's starter in their first plate appearances, but David Brown managed to force consecutive fly balls and struck out the last batter of the inning.
In the bottom of the second inning, Noah Weger's two-out single up the middle registered the first hit of the game.
Jonny McGill followed with a single to left, then
Mitchell Middlemiss hit an RBI single to give UBC the 1-0 lead. Hungry for more, Cam Sanderson added another run, as his RBI single extended the lead to two.
The Mountaineers got on base with a couple of hits in the third, but their momentum was halted as Fitzsimmons and Sanderson turned a smooth double-play to end the inning, stranding two men on base.
The T-Birds put up three more runs in the bottom of the third as they continued their aggressive at bats.
Ty Penner's RBI single got the inning moving, followed shortly by a
Brandon Hupe RBI double off the wall. Weger muscled a groundout to score the last run of the inning, extending UBC's lead to five.
Hupe added another RBI in the fourth inning to increase the lead to 6-0. The visitors then quickly ended LaForest's shutout in the fifth inning, as Tomo Horie's RBI single cut into the deficit to bring the game to 6-1.
The 'Birds recovered their six-run lead as Middlemiss drove an RBI single up the middle in the next inning.
Laforest's strong performance on the mound lasted eight innings, giving up only four hits to 26 batters faced.
Otis Pritchett stepped into the game and was challenged early, but managed to escape the inning after giving up one run, 10-2 UBC.
The Mountaineers made a late ninth inning push by scoring two more runs on Pritchett. In another jam with the bases juiced, defence secured the victory as the 'Birds turned a 5-4-3 ground ball double-play to end the game.
The T-Birds offence was firing in game one as McGill connected on four of his five at bats,
Ty Penner had two hits with 3 RBI, while Hupe and Middlemiss both added two RBI. Laforest improved to 4-3 on the season.
Game 2
Branden Woods took the mound for the home side in game two and started out hot as he retired his first six batters.
The T-Birds offence got off to another quick start as they scored three runs in the first inning. Hupe launched a 2 RBI double to left centre, followed by a Weger RBI double to push UBC in the lead, 3-0.
"I thought both starters set the tone," added Pritchett. "They threw strikes and were constantly ahead in the count. They kept their hitters off balanced and worked deep in the game. When they do that, we have a good chance to win and they both did that today."
UBC added insurance in the bottom of the third inning, beginning with an earned walk from Hupe. He then advanced to third base off a Weger double, which set up a 2 RBI single from McGill, which found its way through the middle of the infield to extend UBC's lead to 5-0.
The Mountaineers finally got to Woods in the seventh inning to bring the game within two runs. Three singles loaded the bases for Jamie Powell, who sent a double off the left field wall to bring home two runs. Another double from Ethan Snodgrass brought home one more run, UBC up 5-3.
Middlemiss reached first base on a fielder's choice in the next inning to extend UBC's lead to three, leading 6-3.
Vicarte Domingo stepped into the game to close out the win for UBC, striking out two out of the three final Eastern Oregon batters.
Weger added two doubles on three hits in game two as he took control of the plate.
"We expect it to be two close games," explained Pritchett as he prepares for Sunday morning's double-header. "We're expecting some weather which means small ball becomes so much more important. We're hoping for two more good starts from our starters, they'll go out and attack so we have confidence in them. We need to win series in April to get in the postseason, so they're important games."
Teams will return to Tourmaline West Stadium Sunday, as the first pitch of game one is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. (PT), with game two will follow shortly after.
