VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds had a steady diet of solid pitching and clutch at bats in a pair of Good Friday victories over the visiting Bushnell University Beacons at Tourmaline West Stadium.
Sean Heppner and
Ryan Beitel were both full value with wins on the mound while
Jonny McGill put up a combined five hits and six RBI to lead the way at the plate as the T-Birds (23-15, 9-5) have now won seven straight and nine of their last ten.
"I thought the pitching was really good, both starters and relievers," said UBC head coach
Chris Pritchett. "And I thought it was a momentum day, I think we jumped on them both times and they came back, they have a good ball club. And then right away we were able to get momentum back, score a couple runs. I thought our hitters all day when our runners were in scoring position, they looked calmer and in control of their at bats which is a really good sign."
GAME ONE
The T-Birds red hot offence didn't take long to pick up where they left of from last weekend's series at Eastern Oregon. Catcher
Noah Or drove in UBC's first run with a single up the middle, bringing home
Aaron Marsh. UBC's next at bat saw McGill reach on a fielder's choice play that allowed
Mike Fitzsimmons to score from third, opening up the early 2-0 advantage.
UBC added to their lead in the second when
Brett Corbeth singled to centre to plate
Kellen Bourne who hit a leadoff double.
The Beacons (19-12, 7-3) cut the lead down to just a single run in the top of the third thanks to a two-run Liam Kerr homer over the left field wall. Despite giving up the long ball, Heppner responded with back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning.
A clutch hit by McGill in the bottom of the fifth restored UBC's two-run lead when he placed the ball into the outfield, just inside the first base line to score courtesy runner
Luciano Letteri from second whose previously stolen base proved to be especially valuable.
"
Noah Or actually with a two strike at bat went through the middle to get on base with two outs," said Pritchett, giving credit to his veteran catcher for putting the 'Birds in position to score what proved to be a key insurance run. "Kind of unassuming, but then you steal second and all of a sudden you're in scoring position and we score a run, that was big. That was a momentum shifter in the middle of the ball game."
The Beacons went to their bullpen in the bottom of the sixth bringing out sophomore Daniel Furman who promptly sat down his first three batters. Starter Ethan Sachs allowed three earned runs on eight T-Bird hits with one strikeout in the loss.
After setting a new career high with 13 strikeouts, Heppner retired after seven complete innings, in line for the win having allowed just the two Bushnell runs on five hits.
Vicarte Domingo came in from the T-Birds bullpen and kept his team ahead with a scoreless final two frames. The sophomore from Vancouver faced a bases loaded scenario in the top of the ninth with two down but got Peyton Hino to pop out to end the game as Domingo collected his first save of the season.
GAME TWO
Ryan Beitel got the nod to start game two for the 'Birds with Alec Gums on the mound for the visitors.
UBC opened scoring in the bottom of the first when
Trent Lenihan grounded out allowing Corbeth to cross home from third.
A pair of base hits from Peyton Hino and Kerr followed by a ground out to advance the runners gave Bushnell their first threat of the game. Beitel struck out his next batter but Cade Crist then drove in Hino to tie the game.
With the bases loaded in the bottom of the inning, McGill blasted a double to deep left, scoring three to give the 'Birds a 4-1 lead.
The Beacons got two back in the top of the fourth when Noah Montoya tripled to centre, easily scoring Dylan Carson who earned a leadoff base hit. Hino cut the lead back to one on a sacrifice fly before Beitel got second baseman Ethan Stacy to ground out.
Corbeth started the bottom of the fifth with a lead off walk followed by an
Aaron Marsh bloop single. Fitzsimmons hammered the ball to deep left-centre, scoring two more and restoring UBC's three-run gap. That chased Gums off the mound as Joshua Yacapin entered in relief with Fitzsimmons on second and none away.
McGill's fourth hit of the day, a single to right, scored Fitzsimmons to give the T-Birds their biggest lead of the afternoon heading to the sixth after Yacapin forced UBC into an inning-ending double play.
The Beacons looked to close the gap once again in the top of the sixth with bases loaded and one down. But Beitel got Kerr to strike out and Stacey to fly out, keeping his team ahead by four as his day ended with six complete thrown with three earned runs on seven hits and a season-high nine strikeouts.
Kellen Bourne came in to pitch the seventh for UBC and struck out his first two batters while getting his third to ground out in an efficient piece of work.
With two on and one down in the bottom half of the seventh, Lenihan hit his second home run of the season, a three-run shot over the left field wall despite cool weather and an unfavourable wind, to increase the home side's lead to 10-3.
Picking up a pair of wins against one of the top teams in the conference in very different ways is certainly a good indicator for UBC's fortunes going forward.
"You got to be ready whether it's rain, shine, whatever it is and in a tight ball game you got to execute. I thought our guys were ready for whatever was coming their way and I thought they did a good job in both ball games."
The T-Birds will look to extend their win streak while going for a third straight series victory on Saturday when they once again take to Tourmaline West Stadium against the Beacons for another doubleheader. First pitch is set for 11:00 a.m. PT.
