Vancouver, British Columbia – The College of Idaho split a doubleheader with host University of British Columbia on Saturday. C of I took game one by a 4-3 margin and falling in the nightcap, 5-4 as both games were decided in the ninth inning.
College of Idaho (14-16, 2-1 CCC) picked up the first game of the doubleheader, coming from behind for the second-straight game as they rallied from a 3-1 deficit to score two in the sixth to tie it and push across the game-winning run in the ninth for the win.
University of British Columbia (12-15, 1-2 CCC) rallied from a 4-3 deficit in the ninth, scoring twice in the bottom of the ninth for the nightcap win and doubleheader split.
Game 1
For the second-straight game, the top four in the 'Yotes order did a bulk of the damage as they went 7-for-17 with
Jonah Hultberg,
Alex McFarland-Smith and
Ben Dudley each had two hits. Plus,
Ben Gaff also had two hits, a run scored and a RBI.
Colby Durski pitched five innings of relief, allowing just five hits and an unearned run to improve to 3-1.
Erik Wisenor pitched a scoreless ninth for the sixth save of the season.
Down 3-1 in the sixth,
Ben Dudley drove in Hultberg to cut the deficit to one and later in the inning, J. Dennison picked up a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 3.
With the game tied, Gaff and Hultberg reached base to start the inning. With runners on first and second, Sadora laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the go-ahead run closer. Then, the Thunderbirds elected to intentionally walk McFarland to load the bases.
Next, a Thunderbirds wild pitch with
Ben Dudley at the plate scored Gaff from third to put C of I ahead 4-3. UBC in its half against Wisenor, who got a pair of ground outs and a strikeout to close out the game.
Game 2
Facing a doubleheader sweep, in the bottom of the ninth, UBC scored twice to prevail with the 5-4 win. C of I outhit UBC by a 9-4 margin as Sadora and McFarland each had two hits to lead the 'Yotes.
Weston Miller brought in a pair on a two-RBI single in the third inning.
C of I got on the scoreboard in the second inning, plating a pair of runs for an early 2-0 lead. They added to their lead in the third on a two-RBI single by Miller.
UBC started its comeback with three runs in the sixth to set the stage for the come-from-behind win.
For C of I,
Ben Gaff, who was the fourth pitcher of the day, who pitched the ninth and was the losing pitcher as he falls to 1-4.
The series ends with a single game on Sunday at 11 a.m. (PST) / noon (MT).
