VANCOUVER – Basketball might be the sport that's known as the game of runs, but the UBC Thunderbirds (25-12, 20-5) and the College of Idaho Yotes (19-19, 9-16) did their best to show how it can be applied in baseball.
After the T-Birds started the game with a nine-run opening inning, the Yotes responded with eight unanswered runs of their own. Not to be deterred, the Thunderbirds then slammed another eight runs on the scoreboard themselves.
The action on the field was complemented by plenty of action in the sky, as what was a light sprinkle at the beginning of the day turned into a downpour of rain that forced the game to conclude after six innings.
"I think that we were prepared – we practice in this all the time and it certainly was an advantage for us being on our home field," said Thunderbirds head coach Chris Pritchett. "It's not fun to play in, baseball's not supposed to be played in this weather, but I thought we handled it mentally very well."
Evan Hoegler earned his first win of the season on the mound, as the reliever fought through the conditions to pitch 2.1 scoreless innings, allowing just two baserunners and striking out four of the nine batters he faced. David Draayers was perfect at the plate, hitting 3-3 with three RBI and three runs scored.
UBC got going early, loading the bases with just one out in the bottom of the first. Kyle Yip brought home the first two runs of the game with a single to left field, and the T-Birds capitalized on three errors by the Yotes in the frame to keep their momentum going.
A Mitchell Middlemiss double to dead-on center brought home two more scores, followed by basically the exact same hit from Draayers to get another two. A Kaden Zarowny single followed by a two-run homer from David Krahn capped off a 9-0 opening splash.
After Pritchett stated the day before that he wanted to see "intensity from pitch one" following their doubleheader losses, he was pleased to see his team deliver on that goal.
"I thought the energy was really good," remarked the T-Birds' bench boss. "They want to be good, they want to get better, they know they have things to work on and I think they took a step in the right direction today."
The Yotes, however, certainly made things interesting with a furious rally of their own between the second and third innings. After scoring two runs in the second, they added six in the third, powered by a pair of home runs from Darren Smith and Caden Casagrande. An RBI double and then single from Ben Gaff and Cannon Morgan cut the deficit to just a single run.
Draayers did his best to wrest the momentum back as he ripped a lead-off homer in the bottom half of the third that bounced off the scoreboard. The tide fully turned back in the T-Birds' favor in the fifth, when the rain began to come down harder and the Yotes' pitchers struggled to keep a handle on the ball.
A bases loaded walk followed by a wild pitch put UBC up 13-8, and they scored another four runs in the frame to rebuild the nine-run lead that they'd held at the end of the first. After James Brock shut down the Yotes on the mound in the top of the sixth, the game was declared over by the umpiring crew with the T-Birds earning a series split at home.
The 'Birds are back at home again next weekend, as they face off against one of their main competitors for the top seed in the conference, the Bushnell Beacons. That pair of doubleheaders is set for April 12th and 13th at Tourmaline West Stadium.
