LA GRANDE, Ore. – The Thunderbirds (20-16, 10-7) came out more than ready to square off against the No. 4 ranked team in the entire NAIA, the Eastern Oregon Mountaineers (30-6, 13-4), pulling off a big win in the series opener before falling in the second.
The two games turned out pretty differently, with a 5-0 UBC victory where they out-hit their hosts 11-2 followed by an 11-6 EOU win where they out-hit the Thunderbirds 10-5.
Jillian Matsubara and
Tegan Harnett had big days for the T-Birds on the basepaths, combining for seven of UBC's 11 runs between the two games. Zoe Willington had season-highs in both hits (three) and RBIs (four) in the second game of the day.
GAME ONE
It was a defensive battle to begin the day, with neither team scoring a run in any of the first five innings.
Carleen Murray was the star on the mound for UBC, as she threw 135 pitches en route to a complete game shutout, giving up just two hits.
It was Eastern Oregon who came close to scoring first, when a walk and a wild pitch helped put runners on second and third with two outs in the bottom of the second. Murray was able to recover, however, with a clutch strikeout to preserve the tie score. She proceeded to retire 15 of the remaining 18 batters she faced in the game, never allowing more than one baserunner on at a time.
The Thunderbirds managed to get a runner in scoring position in three of the first five innings, but weren't able to cash in. That all changed though in the sixth, when the T-Birds' bats really got going.
After Matsubara drew a walk, Harnett and
Mattea Burrill smacked consecutive singles to opposite sides of the field, the latter of which brought home Matsubara for the game's opening run.
Kennedy Laird nearly cleared the bases with a home run, but although the fly ball was caught just before the fence by the Mountaineers' left-fielder, there was enough distance to score Harnett on a sacrifice fly.
Head coach
Jennifer McKellar then brought in
Clare VanSpall to pinch hit, and the Delta native immediately rewarded her coach's faith in her as she launched a homer to right, her second long ball of the year.
Marin Jorgenson nearly made it back-to-back bombs for the Thunderbirds, but hers hit the fence and stayed in play for a double. While she wasn't able to score, the T-Birds did tack on one more run in the final inning when a Matsubara double was followed by an RBI single from Harnett.
GAME TWO
The beginning of the second game was heavily impacted by a rain delay, with play stopped in the top of the second for around an hour. At that time, the Thunderbirds were trailing 1-0, but had the bases loaded with no outs.
The long stoppage didn't cause Willington any issues, as she calmly stepped into the box after the rain stopped and laced a two-run single into right field. A series of walks and mishandled pitches helped score a couple more runs for the T-Birds, juicing a 4-1 lead.
The Mountaineers were able to take the lead right back, however, as they put up a four-spot of their own in the bottom half of the frame, followed by another run in the next inning.
Willington came up with another big hit in the sixth, scoring both Matsubara and Harnett with a single swing to tie the score, but the T-Birds were unable to put themselves back in front.
The home team then put the game out of reach in the fifth, with another five runs that made it 11-6. Hope Burke finished off the damage with a two-run homer, as the Mountaineers avenged their loss earlier in the day to even up the series.
The two teams will go head-to-head in another doubleheader tomorrow beginning at 11:00 a.m. (PT). The final game of the series won't count towards the conference standings, meaning that whoever wins the first outing on Saturday will take the series win.
