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UBC 4, College of Idaho 3
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- Category: Latest
- Published on Tuesday, 05 May 2009 14:23
- Written by Administrator
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The Thunderbirds had two outs left in the tournament, but 2B Sammie Starr and CF Jon Syrnyk got hits, and 1B Scott Webster hit a double to score Starr and end the shutout. 3B Ryan Pilgrim drew a walk, the DH Nic Lendvoy hit a double down the right-field line that cleared the bases and ended the game with a 4-3 win.
Like yesterday, the Thunderbirds had trouble getting hits for most of the game. For the first five innings, Coyote starter Jared Arehart faced the minimum 15 batters. SS Sammie Starr opened the bottom of the first with a hit, but got picked off. 2B Alex White got the only other hit off Arehard in the fourth, but the Coyotes got a double play.
Arehart left the game six innings with six strikeouts and a 2-0 lead. The two runs came in the second inning. Camron Hammond got an RBI on an infield hit. Luke Howard collected the second RBI when he reached first on a bad call.
The Thunderbirds were kept in the game with another excellent performance by Eric Brown, who went eight innings. He allowed seven hits, and struck out seven. The only other run that came in while he was on the mound was an unearned one in the eighth, on a strange play. The Coyotes had runners at second and third with one out. The batter hit a ground ball to third, and the throw went home. The Coyote baserunner, Bryan Champ, was caught in a rundown, and tagged out close to third base. However, the baserunner behind him, Luke Howarth, noticed that nobody was covering home, and kept going and scored.
The Birds drew a couple of walks off reliever Ben Rosen in the bottom of the eighth, but left them stranded. Jeff Hall came in to pitch the top of the ninth. He gave up two walks and a hit, but he picked off a pinch-runner, and a double play sent the game into the bottom of the ninth with the Birds trailing 3-0.
Starr's hit got it started. The next batter, 2B Alex White, worked the count to 3-2. A called strike three on a pitch that was obviously outside brought UBC Head Coach Terry McKaig out of the dugout. Some words were exchanged, resulting in McKaig being ejected from the game.
The Coyotes replaced Rosen with Jake Bottari, one of their best starters, to close it. He was greeted with Syrnyk's single and Webster's double. He proceeded to load the bases by walking Pilgrim, and Lendvoy's double ended the tournament for the Coyotes, and got Hall the win.
The Coyotes and Thunderbirds both had eight hits. Starr was the only Thunderbirds with more than one hit. Diego Robles went 3-4 for the Coyotes.