VANCOUVER – Saturday afternoon in Caldwell, ID the UBC Thunderbirds (14-13, 0-3) dropped a pair of games to the College of Idaho Yotes (17-7, 3-0). The Yotes secured a narrow 6-5 victory in the double-header opener, and followed up with a 12-2, seven-inning triumph in the second game.
Game 1
One day removed from a 7-6 defeat, the 'Birds drew first blood in their half of the first when
Aaron Marsh doubled to right field with two outs, scoring
Mike Fitzsimmons. Ben Gaff then responded with a two-run single in the bottom half of the first, staking the Yotes to a 2-1 lead.
Brandon Hupe moved UBC back even in the top of the second when he laced a double to left-field, scoring
Cameron Sanderson.
Back came the home side in the bottom of the third with a three-run outburst which was highlighted by a solo homerun by Kirby Robertson.
The next three runs came courtesy of UBC. The first came in the fifth when
Mike Fitzsimmons doubled home
Noah Or. Then in the eighth,
Jonny McGill drove in
Brett Corbeth and then
Brandon Hupe's base hit scored
Russell Young to tie the score. On that same sequence,
Jonny McGill got thrown out at home, ending the threat.
Yotes third baseman Jake Denison drove in the game's final run in the bottom of the eighth on a ground out to the pitcher that scored Tyler Lehnertz.
Kirby Robertson pitched the final five innings of Game 1 for the College of Idaho and earned the win, striking out four while allowing just two earned runs.
Daniel Sereda took the loss for UBC, allowing just the single earned run in his third inning of work.
Game 2
The College of Idaho kicked off the second game with a three-run first inning and never looked back. The Yotes secured four consecutive base hits to start the game, and led 2-0 as a result. A Ben Gaff double then extended the lead to 3-0.
Cameron Sanderson put UBC on the board in the top of the third when he drove in
David Draayers, but the Yotes immediately answered with three runs of their own in the bottom half. Two of the runs came from a double from Jonah Hultberg.
One inning later, the Yotes piled on three more, two of which came as a result of wild pitches from
Graham Seltzer.
By the end of the fifth inning, the Yotes led 11-1.
Mike Fitzsimmons hit a solo homer for UBC in their half of the sixth to bridge the gap to nine runs. But the game ended one inning later in the bottom of the seventh when Skyler Sadora doubled home Jonah Hultberg.
Nick Eliason chucked five and one third innings for the College of Idaho and earned the win. The UBC loss was credited to
Cole Alguire who threw the first two and a third innings.
The 'Birds and Yotes wrap up their four-game set from Caldwell, ID tomorrow morning at 10:00 am PT.
