Lewiston, Idaho – The UBC Thunderbirds are off to a solid start at the Cascade Collegiate Conference Championship with a tournament opening 10-5 win over the third-seeded College of Idaho Yotes Friday afternoon at Harris Field.
One of five Thunderbirds with multiple hits on the day, senior Josh Cote drove in three runs, one of them part of a five-run fourth inning for UBC to help keep the T-Birds on the winner's side of the bracket.
James Brock struck out four batters through six innings to earn the win on the mound as UBC will now face the winner of Friday's late game between the host Lewis-Clark State Warriors and the Bushnell Beacons at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.
It wasn't the smoothest opening frame for Brock who put his first two batters on base with a walk and a hit-by-pitch. A wild pitch allowed runners to advance to second and third with Yotes DH Cody Guy later scoring the game's opening run before Brock struck out Darren Smith to limit the damage.
The 'Birds took no time to take the lead with back-to-back RBI doubles in the bottom of the first from Cote and Braeden Scott.
Cote drove in his second run in as many at bats with a sacrifice fly in the third, doubling UBC's lead to 3-1.
The 'Birds got to Yotes starter Jackson Cummins in the fourth, chasing him off the mound after Kyle Yip doubled to score two runs with Lou Fujiwara driving in Kellen Bourne from second earlier in the inning.
A David Krahn sac fly scored Kansai Sugimoto while Cote drove in his third run of the game to cap off UBC's five-run inning with reliever Willy Shirts getting Scott to line out, ending the frightful defensive frame.
The first home run of the postseason for the 'Birds came off the bat of sophomore slugger David Krahn, a leadoff solo shot in the bottom of the sixth to push UBC's lead to 9-1.
College of Idaho got one run back in each of the seventh and eighth innings including a Caden Casagrande two-out solo homer off Lukas Kaufmann who entered in relief for Brock. UBC's veteran starter allowed just the one run on two hits.
Scott's third hit of the day, a single in the eighth, sent Krahn across the plate to restore the 'Birds' seven-run advantage.
Jack Ryan hit a two run homer in the top of the ninth but the Yotes' deficit was simply too great as the College of Idaho will now battle Oregon Tech Saturday morning with the loser facing the end of their season.
UBC now awaits Friday's late game between the host Warriors and the Beacons, who defeated Oregon Tech 18-4 in the tournament's opening contest.
First pitch for the T-Birds' second game of the weekend is set for 2:30 p.m. Saturday with live streaming available on the Urban Edge Network.
