CALDWELL, Idaho – British Columbia used a 18-hit attack in the opener and rallied in the late innings of Game 2 to complete a NAIA West doubleheader sweep of College of Idaho at Wolfe Field.
UBC (17-11, 12-3 NAIA West) hit three home runs in a 15-3 victory in Game 1, with Garrett Hawkins outdueling
Tyler Hilton in a 3-0 victory in the nightcap.
The T-Birds scored in all but one inning in the early game, with Brendan Hupe slugging a long 2-run homer in the third inning to give the Canadian school a 6-1 lead. UBC would break the game wide open in the fifth, as Jaxon Valcke smashed a 3-run homer over the batters' eye in center, extending the lead to 11-1.
C of I (13-21, 7-8) got a pair of runs back in the fifth – but UBC got a 2-run triple from Jordan Dray in the sixth and a second 2-run blast from Hupe in the seventh to end the game due to the 10-run rule.
Starter Jared Sparling went six innings, striking out six for the win, with Valcke going 4-for-5 for the T-Birds.
Payton Lewis went 2-for-4 with a triple and two runs scored for the Yotes.
Hawkins and Hilton matched zeroes for the first seven innings – Hawkins allowing singles to
Austin Van Horne and
Alec Hopkins, while Hilton took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, before a Nolan Weger bloop single to right ended the no-no bid.
In the eighth, UBC took the lead as Noah Or led off with a double and scored on a C of I throwing error. The 'Birds added two insurance runs in the ninth on an RBI double from Wyatt Schnorr and a Mike Fitzsimmons RBI single.
Hawkins went eight innings, walking just one and striking out 12 in the victory, with Hilton allowing just one run on five hits, fanning six in the losing effort.
The two teams close out the series with an 11 a.m. single-game tomorrow.
