LA GRANDE, Ore. – After dropping the second of their two Friday games in an upset against the Eastern Oregon Mountaineers (12-33, 8-25), the UBC Thunderbirds (32-13, 27-6) left no doubt in the third and fourth games of the series on Saturday. Successive 14-8 and 19-3 wins got certainly got their momentum back on track.
Kellen Bourne rocked the Mountaineers in the second game of the day, launching two homers and recording seven RBI in total, the most by any UBC player in a game this season.
Aaron Marsh hit 4-5 with five RBI and four runs scored in the first, and seven Thunderbirds in total had a game with three or more hits.
Pitcher
Ryan Heppner recorded his seventh win of the season in game two, giving up five hits and three runs in seven innings thrown.
GAME ONE
The 'Birds sent a message early, as
Russell Young hit a home run on the very first at-bat of the game.
Trent Lenihan then followed suit just two plays later, putting the blue and gold up 2-0.
Kyle Yip and
David Draayers doubled that lead with RBI of their own, as the T-Birds nearly went through the entire order in the opening frame.
The same was the case in the second, as after a double from Young and a pair of walks loaded the bases, Marsh crushed a grand slam right field. Yip hit the fourth UBC homer just a couple batters later, making it a commanding 9-0 lead.
The Thunderbirds continued to pile on the runs in the middle innings, going up by as many as 11 following an RBI double from Marsh and sacrifice fly from Draayers. The hosts got a bit of a run of their own going in the seventh, but it was too late to make the 'Birds truly sweat as they'd gotten more than enough offence on the board.
GAME TWO
Not to be outdone by their performance in the opening game of the day, the 'Birds lit up the Mountaineers for 19 runs on 18 hits in the final outing of the series. Yip got his second home run of the day in the opening inning, followed by a bases loaded walk from
Jaden Lamothe that made it 3-0.
Eastern Oregon did a better job keeping pace early, and were down just 4-3 after the third inning, but the T-Birds then exploded for five runs in the top of the fourth to break the game wide open. First it was two-RBI single from Yip, and then a three-run homer from Bourne that put the score at 9-3.
The seventh and eighth featured more offensive bursts, as the T-Birds made it 15 unanswered runs dating back to the third inning. Bourne, Marsh,
Jonny McGill and
Jackson Boomer combined for 10 RBI in this final stretch, turning what looked like it could initially be a close game into a rout.
With their results on the day accompanied by the out-of-town scoreboard, the T-Birds exit their second-to-last regular season series in first place in the CCC standings, one game clear of Lewis-Clark State. Fittingly, the Thunderbirds and Warriors face off in the final four games before the playoffs, spread out across three days next Friday to Sunday in Idaho.
If UBC splits or wins the series, they will finish the regular season with the top record in their conference for the first time since 2010. They will also earn the right to host the Cascade Conference Championship, held the following weekend.
