KEIZER, Ore. – After dropping ten runs in each of the first two contests played at Volcanoes Stadium this weekend, the visiting RV Thunderbirds of the University of British Columbia kept their offensive streak alive with another seventeen today in a 17-4 game three final score with the Corban University Baseball team.
"Game got off to a bad start pretty quickly, then we compounded UBC's ability to slug with errors defensively," explained Corban head coach Ryan Harris after their single Sunday morning contest. "Things got out of hand from there. All in all, we just didn't execute today. Back at it tomorrow, weather looks fantastic, it'll be a great day for Warrior baseball."
A leadoff home run for the T-Birds on the fourth pitch of the contest (18-9, 13-3) lined the visiting team up for a massive day at the plate, as UBC rattled off a seven-run opening frame which was all they would need to eventually clinch the series win against the Warriors (6-21, 2-14) with one game still to be played tomorrow.
Four different British Columbia hitters mashed a total of five homers over the fencing in Volcanoes Stadium, with the fifth represented by an inside-the-park home run after a Corban outfielder tripped en route to fielding a line drive by first baseman Trent Lenihan, allowing the ball to roll to the deepest part of the ballpark and send Lenihan flying around the basepaths.
Despite being outscored by 13 runs, the Navy and Gold offense only had six less hits against the T-Birds, yet three fielding errors resulted in some UBC runs to score that otherwise would have resulted in runners left on the bases. The Warriors scored runs in the fourth and ninth frames on RBI singles by sophomore first baseman Lucas Mertlich and senior third baseman Ryan Clay to avoid the shutout by the Thunderbirds' pitching staff.
Warriors' sophomore starting pitcher Avery Williamson was unable to escape the first frame in a six-earned run, five-hit, and two-walk appearance, giving way to five different relief pitchers who were all tagged for at least a single run over varying amounts of innings pitched.
Representing the best starter ERA on the team, UBC starting pitcher Ryan Heppner lowered his season totals by allowing a single earned run in 5.0 innings of action, striking out seven Warriors along the way with no free passes. Relievers Evan Hoegler and Lucas Huynh each tossed a pair of innings, both of whom allowed two hits while Huynh was charged with a pair of earned runs.
From the nine-hole in the lineup, Warriors' senior leftfielder Fran Gross had the best outing of any Corban batter in terms of offense, as he was 3-for-4 at the plate and scored a run. Meanwhile, the RBI base hits by Mertlich and Clay gave each of the infielders a pair of RBI and were both 2-for-4 from the lefthanded batters box.
Despite their 15 base knocks, only five UBC hitters had multi-hit performances in the third game of their four-game series in Keizer, led by third baseman Aaron Marsh who was a single shy of the cycle with his 3-for-4 day by registering a double, triple, two-run homer, three RBI, and three runs scored. Rightfielder Mitchell Middlemiss matched Marsh with three hits of his own along with three RBI and a run scored.
The two conference foes will face off one final time this season tomorrow morning at 11am, as the Warriors have an opportunity to snap their losing streak while the Thunderbirds will play for the series sweep.
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