CALDWELL, Idaho – In a match-up of two of the top starting pitchers in the NAIA West Grouping, Niall Windeler was the benefactor of a 3-run eighth inning rally by British Columbia, as the T-Birds rallied for a 4-2 victory over College of Idaho at Wolfe Field.
Squaring off against C of I (13-19, 7-6 NAIA West) ace
Hunter Boyd, Windeler grinded through eight innings, striking out seven, to earn the victory.
Trailing 2-0 after seven innings, UBC (15-11, 10-3) sent eight batters to the plate in their next at bat – with Zach Prisciak lacing an RBI double just inside the third base bag to plate Brandon Hupe to cut the margin to 2-1. Following a sacrifice bunt, Ty Penner chopped a ball into the Yotes drawn in infield, but pinch runner Wyatt Schnorr beat
Chase Labbe's throw home to tie the game. Following a Noah Or single, Penner scored on a second ground ball to first to give the T-Birds the lead.
C of I opened the scoring in the first, as walks to Labbe and
Austin Van Horne was followed by a
Jake Bowman single to plate a run, with Van Horne scoring on a bobble by Jordan Drey in left field.
Boyd was the tough-luck loser after taking a 3-hit shutout into the eighth inning, finishing with just one walk and six strikeouts. Hupe was the lone player on either team with a multi-hit game, going 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
The two teams play the middle games of the series tomorrow with a doubleheader set for 1 p.m.
