KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – The UBC Thunderbirds (28-18, 13-7) quest for top spot in the Cascade Collegiate Conference standings remains very much in play after a thrilling, lengthy afternoon of double-header baseball in Klamath Falls, OR.
Chris Pritchett's crew bounced back from a heartbreaking 18-17 loss in the opener with a 12-7 victory in the finale over the current conference leading Oregon Tech Hustlin' Owls (29-17, 16-8).
In the opener, catcher
Noah Or set a new career high with a six-hit, five RBI performance while
Jonny McGill hit a two-run homerun in the top of the ninth which momentarily gave UBC a 17-16 lead. Julien Jones answered with a five-hit, four RBI effort for the Owls and finished a homerun shy of the cycle. The teams combined for 37 hits and 11 pitchers in a game that lasted three hours and 40 minutes.
The Hustlin' Owls must wait until next weekend to see if they can claim their first league title since 1982. A Thunderbirds loss to Corban in their final series would secure Tech a share of the title – with OIT holding the bulk of the tiebreak scenarios (thanks to a series win in March against College of Idaho), which would give the Owls the host berth for the upcoming CCC Championships.
The opener featured the highest of highs and lowest of lows. UBC took early 3-1 and 4-2 leads – thanks to a
Noah Or RBI double in the second and a
Russell Young RBI single in the third.
OIT answered with 14-straight runs to seemingly put the game away. An RBI single from Bryce Petrilla and a Julien Jones RBI double in the third gave Tech a 6-4 lead, while the hosts plated five runs in the fifth on only two hits, as an Adam Jacques 2-run double extended the margin to 11-4. Jones added an RBI triple in the sixth to push the lead to 16-4.
Down to their final three outs (due to the mercy rule), UBC answered – capitalizing on seven walks from three OIT relievers.
Brandon Hupe doubled home two and Orr cleared the bases with a double, part of an 8-run seventh to get the visitors back in the contest. An Orr RBI single in the eighth cut the deficit to 16-15 and in the ninth,
Jonny McGill blasted a 2-run homer to complete the comeback, giving the T-Birds a 17-16 lead.
Tech used small ball to force extra innings and eventually win the game. In the ninth, Petrilla singled and pinch runner Griffin Thissell moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and took third on a wild pitch – with Jacques tying the game with a sacrifice fly. In the tenth, Tyler Horner singled and was bunted into scoring position. Following an intentional walk to Jones, Bradshaw lined a fastball off the glove of diving shortstop
Mike Fitzsimmons into shallow left – allowing Horner to score the winning run.
Jones finished 5-for-6 with four runs scored and four RBI, with Petrilla, Jacques and Matthew Ortiz all recording three hits. OIT had a season-high 21 hits in the win.
Or had a huge game in the loss for UBC, going 6-for-7 with five RBI.
The T-Birds built a big lead in Game 2 – as
Trent Lenihan recorded an RBI single in the second and a run-scoring double in the fifth, helping the Canadian side to a 6-1 lead. OIT countered with a 5-run fifth, as Alonzo Vergara homered, Ortiz and Horner lined RBI singles, with Ka'ala Tam lining a 2-run single to tie the score at 6-6.
UBC proved to be too much – as RBI singles from Hupe and Lenihan in the sixth gave the T-Birds the lead and the visitors added four unearned runs over the final three innings to put the game away.
Lenihan finished 4-for-6 with four RBI to back starter
Ryan Heppner, who earned his sixth win after grinding through five innings.
Brett Corbeth earned the save, allowing just one run in four innings of relief.
Horner was 4-for-5 in the loss – including his fifth homer of the year. Ortiz, Jones, Vergara and Jacques all posted two-hit games for Tech.
The Owls close out the regular-season next Saturday, hosting Simpson University in a non-conference doubleheader at 12 p.m.
UBC's final weekend of home games holds huge standings significance. If UBC can secure a series sweep of the Corban University Warriors (15-27, 9-11) they'd host the CCC Championships in the first weekend of May.
The 'Birds and Warriors begin their four-game, two-day series on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. from Tourmaline West Stadium with the rematch then set for 4:00 p.m. The series then continues Sunday with another double-header at 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
