KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – The UBC Thunderbirds (23-17, 16-11) certainly made their presence felt on the first day of the Cascade Collegiate Conference Championship. 

Playing in the tournament opener against the College of Idaho Yotes (26-17, 14-13), the T-Birds put up an emphatic 8-4 win before taking the top-seeded Oregon Tech Owls (42-7, 23-4) to extra innings in a very evenly-matched 5-4 defeat.

Keona Nordquist had a phenomenal day at the plate, with a combined five hits, two RBI and four runs scored between the two games. Three other Thunderbirds – Jessica Heutink, Marin Jorgenson and Shae Sever – had multiple hits in the first game of the day, as the T-Birds out-hit the Yotes 13-4.

Sever and Carleen Murray combined to pitch all 15 innings for UBC, each of them starting one. Sever threw an impressive 182 pitches on the day while also hitting the T-Birds' lone home run late in the weekend opener.


GAME ONE

While it was the Yotes who scored the first run of the championship, the Thunderbirds bit back with a massive third inning. After a walk and an Idaho throwing error put runners on first and second with no outs, a parade of RBI singles followed from Nordquist, Sever, Kaitlyn Kim and Heutink. 



Now up 4-1, the T-Birds then matched the Yotes in the next two innings. When the opposition landed a single run in the top of the fourth, Kaitlyn Eng answered with an RBI single in the bottom half of the fourth. When the Yotes scored two in the top of the fifth, a Kennedy Ainge hit and Nordquist bases loaded walk brought home two more in the bottom half of the frame.

Coming on in relief late in the fifth, Murray was lights out on the mound to close out the game, retiring seven of the eight batters she faced. Sever's solo shot to dead centre in the sixth inning served as the icing on the cake, as the Thunderbirds won their opening round playoff game for the first time since 2018.


GAME TWO

Their reward for taking their first game? A date with tournament hosts Oregon Tech, ranked No. 2 in the NAIA. No easy task for sure, but the fiery T-Birds were up for the challenge as a Nordquist double followed by a single from Eng put them up 1-0 on the second at-bat of the game.

A Jorgenson single in the top of the third managed to score two runs following a throwing error, putting the pressure on the home team. The Owls responded, however, with a four-run third inning of their own to take the lead.



Sever came back in to pitch from there, and allowed just one run over 5.1 innings of work. The Thunderbirds capitalized on their strong defensive play and tied the game in the sixth when Ainge laced an RBI single to right field.

The T-Birds then loaded the bases with just one out, but were unable to bring home any more runs. They held the Owls off the scoreboard in the sixth and seventh, but were unfortunately unable to do so in extras. With runners on first and second and two outs, Oregon Tech's Zoe Allen smacked the ball straight up the middle, giving enough time for Malia Mick to wheel around third and score the walk-off winner.

The double-elimination tournament continues tomorrow, as the Thunderbirds will aim to keep their run going with another early game, this time against Carroll College at 9:00 a.m. (PT). If they win, they will play another game at 4:30 p.m. (PT) the same day.