April 29, 2023

‘Birds Complete Sweep, Set Sights On CCC Crown Sunday against Corban Warriors

By Dan O’Connor

UBC Thunderbirds Communications

VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds (30-18, 15-7) are in complete control of their Cascade Collegiate Conference title destiny heading into the final Sunday of their regular season.

The Thunderbirds secured back-to-back seven-inning victories over the visiting Corban University Warriors (15-29, 9-13) Saturday afternoon at Tourmaline West Stadium. In the opener, Mike Fitzsimmons and Brandon Hupe hit two-run homers and Sean Heppner (6-4) went the seven-inning distance for UBC, striking out 12 in an 11-1 victory.

Then in the nitecap, Ryan Beitel (4-4) struck out eight and only surrendered two hits against through seven while six different players had multi-hit games in an 11-0 win. Ryan Clay supplied the Corban run in the opener with a deep solo homerun in the top of the fourth inning.

“Our pitchers were outstanding. Both of our pitchers didn’t get them a chance,” said head coach Chris Pritchett. “We defended well, we pitched well, we hit well, and we’ll have to do it again tomorrow. That’s a good team over there and we’re going to have to compete at our best.”

Game 1:

The UBC bats wasted little time in setting the tone for a big day. With one runner on and one out in the bottom half of the first, SS Mike Fitzsimmons clubbed his team-leading 10th homerun to stake the hosts to a 2-0 lead. Three batters later Trent Lenihan hit a sacrifice fly to right field that scored Brandon Hupe.

Sean Heppner then sat down the Warriors in order in both the second and third innings and was rewarded for his efforts in the bottom half of the third when his squad plate four more runs. Brandon Hupe (double) and Jonny McGill (walk) reached base to start the inning which set the table for Trent Lenihan to score Hupe with a double. Two batters later Kyle Anderson singled to center which scored McGill and Lenihan to open up a 5-0 lead. Aaron Marsh would later hit a two-out single that scored Anderson and gave UBC a six-run lead.

Ryan Clay’s second hit of the day for Corban was a loud one. The third baseman led off the top of the fourth inning with his third homerun of the season to break the goose egg for Corban. Brad Pellkofer and Elijah Maris would then each add hits for the Warriors, but Sean Heppner managed to strike his way out of damage keeping his team ahead 6-1.

UBC responded with two more runs in their half of the fourth on the strength of a two-run, two-out triple from Brett Corbeth that scored McGill and Mike Fitzsimmons.

Sean Heppner’s dominance continued for UBC as he retired each of the next six hitters he faced while James Arend came into the game in the fifth inning for Corban and pitched two scoreless innings of his own.

Corban threatened in the top of the seventh with a pair of hits, but Sean Heppner struck out a pair and Noah Or threw out Michon Cole trying to steal second which halted another Warrior threat.

With one runner on and a pair of outs, Brandon Hupe ended things with a homerun – His sixth to clinch the victory for UBC.

Heppner’s line included one earned run on six hits with 12 strikeouts. Nate Martin, James Arend and Giovanni Cervantes combined for 11 runs allowed on 15 hits with six strikeouts.

Game 2:

The first three numbers on the board were zeros, but UBC exploded in the bottom of the second with four runs on the strength of five hits. Trent Lenihan got the party started with a single that scored McGill who led off the inning with a double. Kyle Anderson, Russell Young and Aaron Marsh all then added RBI’s to get the home side to their 4-0 advantage.

In the top of the third inning, Ryan Beitel was aided by some terrific UBC defense. First it was McGill who ranged a long way to his right in the outfield to secure the second out. Then Mike Fitzsimmons ended the inning with a diving stab to his left at shortstop before making a perfect throw to first to record the out.

Prtichett said, “They know we can’t take any plays off. There was no let down from pitch one all the way through game two, and we’ll have to do it again tomorrow.”

David Dreeyers then got UBC up by five runs thanks to a one out single to right field that scored Lenihan in the third inning.

Three more runs would cross in the bottom of the fourth thanks to a pair of hits and an infielding error from the Corban Warriors. Cameron Sanderson swiped a pair of bases early in the inning and then scored off an errant throw to third base that trickled into left field. Hupe then continued his impressive day at the dish by driving home a pair of runs with a double to left field, giving UBC an 8-0 lead after four.

Beitel’s terrific form continued or UBC as he sat down each of the next sit Corban hitters he faced. Alex Hakes’ first inning of relief for Corban didn’t yield any runs, but the same could not be said for the bottom of the sixth.

UBC plated their final three runs of the day on four hits and an error in the sixth led in large part by a loud double to right field by McGill. Mitchell Middlemiss and Draayers also added RBIs which put UBC up 11-0.

Corban did threaten in the top of the seventh by loading the bases with only one out. But Beitel notched a fly ball and a strikeout to end the game.

The two victories for UBC have huge ramifications in the standings as their conference record now sits at 15-7, one win shy of the leaders from Oregon Tech. Simply put – a UBC sweep in the rematch would give the Thunderbirds the CCC regular season title, and would mean a four-team playoff tournament would take place at UBC next weekend.

“This was a perfect balance of being loose but also taking the task seriously,” concluded Pritchett. “We have enough veterans to know that we are only halfway there. We have to come back and be ready for tomorrow from pitch one onwards.”