VANCOUVER, BC – In their final series of the Cascade Collegiate Conference's regular season, the UBC Thunderbirds swept Saturday's double-header with the Oregon Tech Owls by taking a tight 3-2 victory in game one, and closing the day with a 3-1 win, clinching a birth at the upcoming conference post-season tournament in the process.
In the pitcher friendly Tourmaline West Stadium, UBC's
Ryan Beitel and Oregon Tech's Jacob Miller took the mound for the opener and put together a pitching clinic to keep opposing bats guessing up for the first three innings.
The Owls took the lead in the fourth inning as Ian Peters' RBI single gave the visitors the 1-0 lead.
In the bottom of the fifth inning,
Mike Fitzsimmons launched his second home run of the year to tie the game at one and bring the UBC faithful onto their feet.
A pitching change started the seventh inning off as Beitel finished his night with nine strikeouts while allowing just three hits.
Adam Khan entered the game and quickly forced a routine ground-out with his first batter. A defensive error followed by savvy baserunning placed an Owl on third base to set up Kaleb Keelean, who ripped an RBI triple down the right field line, 2-1 Oregon Tech.
Needing to make a run, the T-Birds came through in the bottom of the eighth inning as some small ball advanced men to second and third base.
Brett Corbeth then connected perfectly on a ball to centre field to bring both runners home, 3-2 UBC.
Vicarte Domingo came in to close the game in the ninth and did just that by striking out the last two batters of the game and secure the important win while earning his team-leading sixth save of the season.
Game 2
Teams stepped back onto the field as clouds cleared for a near perfect Saturday afternoon rematch. With their opening win fresh in the back of their minds, the 'Birds opened with a two-run first inning courtesy of
Noah Or's monster homerun to give UBC the 2-0 lead.
Branden Woods controlled the zone for the first two innings, but the Owls strung together some momentum in the top of the third inning and cashed as Matthew Ortiz drove in a run to cut their deficit in half, 2-1 UBC.
With two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning, Corbeth continued to showcase his bat when it matters most as he smashed a solo homerun to give his team some insurance, extending UBC's lead to 3-1.
Woods finished his night with two outs in the eighth inning, and
Sean Heppner confidently stepped in to earn his second save of the season through efficient work and three strikeouts.
Sunday's double-header will kick-off a little earlier with game one beginning at 11:00 a.m. (PT) followed shortly by the last game of the series at 1:00 p.m. (PT).
