LA GRANDE, Ore. – There was offensive excellence displayed all over the diamond on Friday, as the UBC Thunderbirds (30-13, 25-6) and Eastern Oregon Mountaineers (12-31, 8-23) combined for a total of 43 runs and 57 hits over their doubleheader.
While it was the T-Birds who drew first blood in a 15-5 blowout win to start the day, the Mountaineers got their lick back with a rollercoaster of a 12-11 win in the rematch. The loss is UBC's first road defeat in Cascade Collegiate Conference play this season.
Five Thunderbirds – Trent Lenihan, Aaron Marsh, Jonny McGill, Mitchell Middlemiss and Kyle Yip – had a three-RBI performance in one of the games. All except for Marsh also launched a home run (or two) on the day.
Will Anderson earned the win on the mound in the first game, pitching six innings and giving up three earned runs with four strikeouts. The second-year pitcher improved to 4-1 on the season.
GAME ONE
The Thunderbirds jumped on the Mountaineers early, piling six runs on the board in the top of the first. After loading the bases with zero outs, Marsh stepped up to the plate and laced a two-RBI single to right field, followed by three more RBI singles from Kellen Bourne, Aidan Rose and Kaden Zarowny.
The 'Bird bash continued in the second, as another Marsh RBI single was followed the very next at-bat by a two-run homer from Middlemiss. Middlemiss then went yard again in his next trip to the plate two innings later, making it a 10-1 lead.
While the home team were able to get a few runs on the board in the later innings the damage was already done. Lenihan and Yip put the exclamation marks on the contest with home runs of their own in the seventh and eighth innings, respectively.
GAME TWO
The second game of the day had a very different beginning, as it was EOU who jumped out to a 5-1 lead with a series of runs in the third and fourth innings.
This time it was McGill who brought the power for UBC, going deep in both the fifth and seventh innings as part of a game where he hit 4-4 with four runs scored. A Yip sacrifice fly cut the deficit to just a single run heading into the eighth, setting the stage for a wild finish.
The T-Birds caught fire again in the penultimate inning, surging out in front with five more runs. But the Mountaineers weren't ready to give up, as they hit back with four of their own in the bottom half of the frame to make it 11-11 to start the ninth. After UBC was unable to add to their tally, EOU pinch-hitter Alex Olague hit a walk-off solo home run to snap a three-game losing streak for his team.
After those fireworks the two sides will be right back at it on Saturday in the second half of their weekend series. The 'Birds and Mountaineers do battle at 12:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. (PT) in La Grande.
