VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds (24-8, 18-3) won both games of a doubleheader against the Warner Pacific Knights (10-22, 5-16) on Sunday to sweep the four-game series at Tourmaline West Stadium. The T-Birds pulled away late to win Sunday's opener 11-1 in eight innings, before holding on to an early lead to take a 4-1 victory in the finale.
UBC's pitching was elite all day, with starters
Myles Chamberlain and
Daniel Orfaly giving up one run each, and the 'Birds bullpen near-perfectly in relief. Catcher/DH
Josh Cote also had another great day at the dish, swatting a homerun and a double, driving in three, and scoring two runs.
"Anytime you come home, you want to make sure you take care of business, and I thought our guys did that," reflected UBC head coach
Chris Pritchett. "The pitching today was outstanding. I thought that really carried us, only giving up two runs in two games. You've always got to be happy about that."
Both Warner Pacific starters, Jaxon Hamada and Mason Deverna, were strong in their losses, giving up two earned runs each. Mitchell Thoma-Britt stood out for the Knights, driving in one of WPU's runs and scoring the other, while getting a key outfield assist to keep game two close.
GAME ONE
The Knights wasted no time starting the scoring on Sunday, taking the lead in the top of the first. Haden Mirante led off the game with a swinging bunt single on the seventh pitch of the at bat, stole second, and eventually came around to score on a single by Thoma-Britt.
The T-Birds answered in the bottom of the third, scratching across a pair of unearned runs on a sacrifice fly and a wild pitch to take a 2-1 lead.
Both starting pitchers kept the bats quiet from there until the bottom of the fifth, when red hot T-Birds catcher Cote came through again, knocking a double into the left field corner to score
Matt Vanslyke and put the 'Birds ahead 3-1. UBC would add another run on an
Oliver Clements single, but the Knights stymied what could have been a bigger inning for the home side by making a nice out at home on an attempted squeeze, keeping their deficit at 4-1.
The 'Birds blew the game open in the seventh. After Clements was balked in from third,
Lou Fujiwara launched a three-run line drive homer to left before Cote followed up with a two-run blast. That put UBC up 10-1, which became 11-1 when a
Braeden Scott double in the eighth invoked the mercy rule and became a walk-off.
Cote was 7/9 with two homeruns and two walks through three games in the series.
"We thought he'd be a middle of the order bat we could rely on and he's starting to really look like the guy we saw in the fall," said Pritchett, on the senior transfer from the University of Toledo.
"We're happy about that and we need other guys to get going just like him. Sometimes hitting's contagious, so whatever he's doing right now, we're hoping it spreads."
Both starters were solid in the blowout, with WPU's Hamada pitching into the fifth and allowing two earned runs while UBC's Chamberlain put together a quality start in his second win of the year, spinning six innings of one-run ball.
Â
GAME TWO
Game two started out with some odd, sloppy baseball. The T-Birds scored four runs over the first two innings without the benefit of a hit, stringing together walks and hit batters while taking advantage of a key error, wild pitch, and failed fielder's choice.
Staked to a 4-0 lead, UBC starter Orfaly cruised through three innings before the Knights found some success against him in the fourth. After giving up a double to Donny Tober and three walks within the first five batters of the frame, Orfaly wriggled out of a one-out bases loaded jam to limit the damage to one run.
As Warner Pacific starter Deverna settled in, following a difficult start that was largely due to defensive miscues,
Mason Chien entered the game for the T-Birds in the fifth and looked comfortable stymying the Knights through three shutout innings to earn his second win of the season.
Deverna lasted into the seventh, throwing 124 pitches before being lifted. Hank Kern then came in with the bases loaded and was able to put down the threat, with a little help from left fielder Thoma-Britt. UBC first basemen Stephen Water lifted a fly ball to Thoma-Britt in left, seemingly deep enough to comfortably score his teammate from third. However, Thoma-Britt cleverly threw a laser to third base and the Knights tagged out an advancing UBC runner there before the other T-Bird crossed the plate, keeping the game at 4-1.
Neither team could mount any offence the rest of the way, with
Oliver Duthie coming on to retire six straight Knights in just 15 pitches for a two-inning save, his first of the year.
"When you play two games you're out here all day, it's tiring, but you just gotta give 'er," said Pritchett, about a UBC bench that was notably more vocal in picking up its hitters on Sunday compared to the day before.
"I don't know who was responsible for reminding them but they got after it. It was some pretty good energy in here, people having a good time, and that's all we can ask for. Give it everything you got, even if you're not in the game."
Â
The T-Birds now hit the road for undoubtedly the most hotly anticipated series of the Cascade Collegiate Conference season. They take on perennial rival Lewis-Clark State, who sport an identical 18-3 conference record, leaving the two teams tied for first in the CCC and a full seven games ahead of anyone else. The rivals will play a four-game series over three days in Lewiston, starting Friday, April 3rd at 6:00 p.m. (PT).
"It's always fun, we love playing them," added Pritchett, with a grin.
The Knights return to Portland to host the Oregon Tech Owls in back-to-back doubleheaders next Friday and Saturday. First pitch on Friday is set for 11:00 a.m. (PT).
Â
