VANCOUVER – It took a come-from-behind, walk-off win in the first half of Friday's doubleheader, but in the end the Thunderbirds (19-13, 9-5) took both games at Collings Field over the visiting College of Idaho Yotes (19-15, 5-9).
 
The nine runs scored by the T-Birds in the second game was their most in a conference outing this season, with strong hitting across the board highlighted by a three-run home run by Mattea Burrill. Kennedy Laird also hit a crucial two-run shot late in the first game, while Jessica Heutink led the team in hits overall going 4-7 at the plate between the two games with an RBI and a run scored.
 
"We stayed true to our offensive identity where we pass the bat," said UBC head coach Jennifer McKellar. "Now we did get a couple long balls today, but that's a product of our hard work and thinking about going 60 feet. And also getting great pitching performances from our whole staff today – I think that contributed to them having energy for all 14 innings."
 
Madelyn Powell had three hits on the day for the Yotes, with her and Kina Watts both recording multiple RBIs for the visitors.
 

 
GAME ONE
 
Brielle Donoghue got the T-Birds going with a leadoff single, and with some methodical offence they loaded the bases. That set up Zoe Willington for an RBI single to open the scoring, when she smacked the ball through the right side of the infield.
 
The Yotes didn't take too long to answer back, as with runners on the corners and just one out in the second, Hallie Campbell hit a ground ball that had enough juice to allow Lena Zahniser to sprint home and tie the game.
 
The Yotes really got their bats going in the fourth, with a Powell RBI single followed by a Marti Anderson double to put two runners in scoring position and just one out. While the T-Birds did give up a bases loaded walk to make it 3-1, they escaped further damage when Burrill caught a line drive at shortstop and flipped it to third for an inning-ending double play.


 
Chloe Flerchinger had a great defensive play of her own for College of Idaho in the fifth, as she robbed an RBI hit from Tegan Harnett by flashing the glove and snagging a ball hit hard down the left field line. The Thunderbirds did get themselves right back into things the following inning, however, when Laird launched a two-run homer to dead centre to make it a 3-3 ballgame.
 
Carleen Murray got out of the seventh without allowing a hit, as she threw 112 pitches in a complete game performance. That set up the heroics in the bottom half of the inning, when a Jillian Matsubara leadoff double was followed by a Harnett fly ball that was dropped by Ham, allowing Matsubara to scamper home for the walk-off win in her team's first game at home this season.
 

 
GAME TWO
 
Harnett had a big swing in the opening inning of the second game too, as with two outs she hit a two-run single down the right field line to once again get UBC on the board early. It became a monster first for the T-Birds when two batters later Burrill jacked a three-run bomb to make it 5-0.
 
Back-to-back doubles from Laird and Marin Jorgenson, followed by a fielding error that brought home Jorgenson, tacked on two more runs before the inning was complete, with the Thunderbirds seeming to be in complete control.
 
"They're so excited to be able to play at home," said McKellar about her team. "So to be able to do that [walk-off win] in front of friends and family, and then take that momentum in, I think was big between games and can hopefully be a foundation for tomorrow."
 
That momentum was swung a little bit in the third, when the Yotes got some rhythm of their own going. Four straight singles to start the inning got the visitors' first two runs on the board, when Ham and Kate Crosby were brought home by a Watts hit. While the Yotes did hit into a double play after that, Powell was able to score one more run with another RBI single, as her team ended the frame having cut the deficit nearly in half.


 
College of Idaho got a little bit closer in the fifth, when Zahniser bashed a homer over the wall in left-centre. But they wouldn't be able to get any closer from there, as the duo of Mila Anderson and Madison Hiebert locked things down on the mound with just one other hit allowed in the final 4.1 innings.
 
The offence provided some extra insurance in the bottom of the sixth, when Heutink and Matsubara landed consecutive RBI singles to put nine runs on the board for the Thunderbirds.
 
The victory makes it four straight conference wins for the blue and gold, and five in a row overall. The two teams will be right back at it tomorrow, with another doubleheader beginning at 11:00 a.m. (PT) on Collings Field.