UBC completes first series sweep of season
Right-hander Ryan Heppner struck out 11 and allowed just two hits in seven scoreless innings to earn the win in his start for the UBC Thunderbirds on Sunday. Photo: UBC Athletics
April 2, 2023
By Jeff Sargeant
UBC Communications
PENDLETON, Ore. – The UBC Thunderbirds completed their first series sweep of the Cascade Collegiate Conference season with a pair of convincing wins over the host Eastern Oregon Mounties Sunday afternoon.
Ryan Heppner was superb on the mound in game one picking up his fifth win of the season in a complete game 12-0 shutout victory while Aaron Marsh (Nanaimo, B.C.) led a red hot offence with a combined seven hits and nine RBIs on the day with UBC (21-15, 7-5) taking the series finale, 18-3.
After a day off Saturday due to inclement weather, the final doubleheader of the four-game series was pushed to Sunday. If anything, the rest only allowed the T-Birds' to come out with even hotter bats than Friday's doubleheader sweep.
Mike Fitzsimmons (Chilliwack, B.C.) got things rolling in game one Sunday with a two-run first inning home run for the early lead UBC would only build upon.
A Kellen Bourne (Calgary, Alta.) two-RBI single in the second was followed up by a three run shot by Marsh, his eighth home run of the season, giving the visitors a 7-0 lead.
David Draayers (Abbotsford, B.C.) hit UBC's third long ball of the game in the third, a solo shot to make it 8-0 T-Birds while Marsh scored another with a double.
After Eastern Oregon (1-27, 0-12) starter Shane Sinclair got roughed up for eight earned runs on nine hits through 2 2/3 innings, reliever Dalton Jones settled things down, but the damage had been done.
Jones held UBC off the board the next few innings but the 'Birds weren't done just yet, plating another three in the seventh to invoke the mercy rule after the Mounties were unable to get anything back.
Heppner was tremendous, limiting the Mounties to just two hits and three walks while striking out a season-high 11 batters.
Game two saw UBC stake out an early 4-0 lead by the middle of the opening frame, but the Mounties answered back with a couple of runs in the bottom half.
Harrison Goyette scored on a Justin Duso single in the second to cut the T-Birds' lead to just a single run, but the Mounties' hopes of securing their second win of the season were short-lived.
Following a scoreless third, Bourne fired off a two-run homer in the top of the fourth to build UBC's lead back to three. Aiden Rose (Calgary, Alta.) scored on a wild pitch and Brett Corbeth (London, Ont.) made it home on a Marsh base hit to make it 8-3 'Birds.
UBC then exploded for seven runs in a fifth inning that saw 11 T-Bird batters. Kyle Anderson (Burnaby, B.C.) bookended the frame with a lead off walk and later drove in Russell Young (Surrey, B.C.) with a two-out double.
Marsh completed his tremendous day at the plate with a three run bomb in the sixth to erase any doubt about the eventual T-Birds seven inning victory.
Daniel Sereda (Vancouver, B.C.) was awarded the win having pitched two perfect innings with five strikeouts. Brendan Logan (Oyen, Alta.) and Vicarte Domingo (Vancouver, B.C.) each pitched a scoreless inning to seal the deal.
Now with five straight wins and seven in their last eight, the T-Birds head to Nat Bailey Stadium Wednesday for an exhibition meeting with the Vancouver Canadians. UBC will then host the Bushnell Beacons for a four-game series starting Friday, April 7 with a doubleheader at Tourmaline West Stadium.