KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – The T-Birds (27-20, 15-9) now have their backs against the wall at the Cascade Collegiate Conference Championship, as they lost their first game of the double-elimination conference tournament to the College of Idaho Yotes (31-18, 12-12).
The battle between the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds in the CCC regular season standings was dead even in terms of hits and errors, with the Yotes just doing a bit better at cashing in their opportunities with runners on base.
UBC's eight hits came from eight different players, a number that doesn't even include
Tegan Harnett who hit 0-1 at the plate but drew three walks. Chloe Flerchinger, Kamryn Ham and Madelyn Powell each had two hits for College of Idaho.
It was the Yotes who struck first, when Alyssa Mendez hit a double down the right field line to score Isabella Fazio in the top of the second, her team's first hit of the day.
The T-Birds did respond immediately in their half of the frame, thanks in large part due to a fantastic at-bat from
Kennedy Laird with two runners on and two outs. The UBC catcher grinded out an 11-pitch duel between herself and College of Idaho starter Drew Williams, fouling off numerous pitches before drawing a walk to load the bases.
Marin Jorgenson then stepped to the plate and also worked the count to draw a walk, allowing Harnett to trot home unopposed.
Things took a sharp turn for the worse in the following inning, when some early Yotes pressure led to the CCC RBI leader Powell adding another to her tally with a double. After loading the bases with two outs, the American side scored another two runs on a Flerchinger infield single turned throwing error, taking a 4-1 lead.
Now facing a larger deficit,
Lauren Hounsell stepped to the plate and led off the bottom of the third with a solo home run just over the fence in left-centre, the first long ball of her UBC career. The Thunderbirds were unable to continue that offensive momentum, however, and the Yotes scored again in the fifth to restore their three-run advantage that they would hold for the rest of the game.
The T-Birds did keep putting pressure on, and were able to bring the tying run to the plate with one out in the bottom of the seventh, but a warning track fly out from
Jillian Matsubara followed by another fly out off the bat of Laird ended the comeback hopes.
UBC will next play tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. (PT), in an elimination game. Their opponent will be determined following the conclusion of Friday's opening slate of games.
