KEIZER, Ore.
– A pair of home runs from UBC's
Brandon Hupe helped the Thunderbirds earn a 5-2 win over Corban University Sunday afternoon to seal the series win at Volcanoes Stadium.
Prior to the action, Corban recognized 12 seniors who competed in their final home game for the Navy and Gold:
Zack Simon,
Keenan O'Brien,
Alex Hakes,
Tanner Lundberg,
Dakota Fingar,
Jack Ossenkop,
Maxwell Jeffrey,
Jacob Bowser,
Estenio Sede,
Ben Aguilera,
Mason Shaw, and
Morgan Hostetler.
"I thought we competed today, but ultimately, we didn't get the results we wanted," said head coach
Derek Legg. "We're excited to get back to work on Tuesday."
A defensive miscue proved costly in the first inning, as a throwing error from Sede allowed the visitors to plate an unearned run in their first at-bats of the game.
The T-Birds then conjured a two-out rally in the top of the third, as Hupe launched his second two-run homer in as many games to extend the UBC lead to three.
After being held hitless through the first four frames, Corban got on the board in the bottom of the fifth.
Nainoa Ka'ahanui brought home the squad's first run with a sharply hit single through the right side.
Hupe struck again for his second homer of the contest in the top of the eighth, blasting his third homer of the weekend over the left-field fence to stretch the lead back to three.
After the Navy and Gold stranded the bases loaded in its half of the eighth, the T-Birds reached three-consecutive baserunners in the top of the ninth to add an insurance run.
Ka'ahanui got that run back with a solo bomb to right field in the bottom of the ninth, but it wouldn't be enough, as the Warriors fell by a 5-2 final score in the finale. The Warrior first baseman tallied the squad's lone multi-hit performance and accounted for each of its two RBIs.
Simon turned in another strong outing on the mound (6 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 6 K) but finished with the loss, while UBC's
Brett Corbeth earned the victory after six and one-thirds innings of one-run ball.
The T-Birds close out their season next weekend when they host the Oregon Tech Owls for a four-game series beginning on April 30th at Tourmaline West Stadium.
