Vancouver, BC – The UBC Thunderbirds (15-8) pulled ahead early and held strong to walk away with a 7-3 victory over the College of Idaho Yotes (9-17) at Tourmaline West Stadium on Sunday. The series sweep was closed out with hot hitting on offence and a strong start from T-Bird pitcher
Daniel Orfaly, who gave up only two hits through five innings.
"I think our pitchers needed a bounce back week", said UBC head coach
Chris Pritchett. "So, to see them go out and have four really good starts, it sets us up for success."
Little time was needed for the 'Birds to put bats to the ball as catcher and leadoff man
Russell Young stepped into the batter's box and delivered a double down the left field line over a leaping infielder. Next up was
Aaron Marsh who connected and found open space, sending a single into right and scoring the first run of the game for the home side with three outs to go in the frame.
Starting pitcher for the T-Birds Dan Orfaly took the mound for the top of the second inning, which mirrored his first. He continued to tie up opposing hitters in the strike zone, forcing awkward contact resulting in smooth plays defensively for a quick half inning – and the momentum seemingly carried over.
The bottom half of the second saw some more hot bats for the 'Birds. Following a walk and a single,
Aidan Rose stepped up to the plate with a runner in scoring position and he would deliver. He blasted the ball down the left field line, just barely staying fair, sending it to the wall. Due to a bobble on the pickup in the outfield, both runners were able to make their way across the plate to extend the home side's lead, 3-0.
Following another quick inning from Orfaly, the 'Birds were able to add run support for him by tacking on one more run in the bottom of the third with the help of a couple of two-out knocks.
Orfaly entered the fourth holding a no hitter but, after recording the first out of the inning, he would concede a bunt single to the Yotes. However, his fielders had his back as the next batter up put the ball on the ground to short, leading to an inning-ending double play.
UBC was able to keep the pressure on, adding another run in the bottom of the fifth to extend their lead to 5-0. Orfaly was taken out to start the sixth, ending the day with two hits and one strikeout over a five-inning span.
"I think mainly, it just sets the tone for the game", added Pritchett on the sound start from Orfaly. "He was working quickly, staying in the strike zone, which keeps our defence fresh and ready to go. Another great effort, our pitching was outstanding all weekend long."
Action picked up again in the top of the seventh as the Yotes' bats came alive. Following a walk to start the inning, Chandler Stocking doubled to left to get runners on second and third. Jordan Kelly was next up and made contact for the infield single, breaking the 'Birds shutout. The T-Birds were able to settle down, striking out the next batter looking, but would proceed to give up a sacrifice fly to deep centre resulting in an RBI. A groundout would end the inning and the 'Birds were able to limit the damage to just two runs.
After a lineout and groundout started the bottom of the seventh, UBC continued to make contact and eventually got through.
Trent Lenihan connected for his second single of the game, just before
Mitchell Middlemiss doubled to the left side to send his teammate home.
Jonny McGill was next up and copied Middlemiss as he drilled a double into left field as well for his second RBI of the game, bringing the score up to 7-2.
The eighth was quick for both sides, leading to the top of the ninth being the Yotes' final chance, and they came close. With two runners reaching base to start, a catch was then made by UBC's centerfielder which was seemingly the second out. However, the umps correctly called catcher's interference on the would-be sac fly, which canceled the putout and loaded the bases. The Yotes tallied another run with a proceeding walk, but relief pitcher
Dylan Myttenar recorded a strikeout on the next batter. Down to their final out, the Yotes sent a liner down the left line, but it was snagged by the third baseman to end the game, 7-3.
The Thunderbirds (15-8) will begin conference play next weekend as they make the trip to Klamath Falls to face off against the Oregon Tech Owls (14-10) in another four-game series. That begins with a doubleheader on Saturday, March 16, first pitch at 12:00 p.m. (PT) before two more games on Sunday, March 17.
"Now we're playing a top 20 team in Oregon Tech next week, this will be a tough week of practice," said Pritchett. "We're not going to take it easy because we know there's going to be adversity when we go down there. We're excited, as this weekends' wins give us something to build off of for sure."
