KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – The two top teams in the Cascade Conference put on an offensive display, combining for 57 runs on 68 hits – as Oregon Tech and British Columbia split a wild doubleheader at Steen Sports Park.
Dane Bradshaw lined a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the tenth inning, as OIT (29-17, 16-8 CCC) overcame a late inning collapse to claim an 18-17 victory, while UBC kept their conference title hopes alive with an 11-7 win in Game 2.
The Hustlin' Owls must wait until next weekend to see if they can claim their first league title since 1982. A Thunderbirds (28-18, 13-7) loss to Corban in their final series would secure Tech a share of the title – with OIT holding the bulk of the tiebreak scenarios (thanks to a series win in March against College of Idaho), which would give the Owls the host berth for the upcoming CCC Championships.
The opener featured the highest of highs and lowest of lows. UBC took early 3-1 and 4-2 leads – thanks to a Noah Or RBI double in the second and a Russell Young RBI single in the third.
OIT answered with 14-straight runs to seemingly put the game away. An RBI single from
Bryce Petrilla and a
Julien Jones RBI double in the third gave Tech a 6-4 lead, while the hosts plated five runs in the fifth on only two hits, as an
Adam Jacques 2-run double extended the margin to 11-4. Jones added an RBI triple in the sixth to push the lead to 16-4.
Down to their final three outs (due to the mercy rule), UBC answered – capitalizing on seven walks from three OIT relievers. Brandon Hupe doubled home two and Orr cleared the bases with a double, part of an 8-run seventh to get the visitors back in the contest. An Orr RBI single in the eighth cut the deficit to 16-15 and in the ninth, Jonny McGill blasted a 2-run homer to complete the comeback, giving the T-Birds a 17-16 lead.
Tech used small ball to force extra innings and eventually win the game. In the ninth, Petrilla singled and pinch runner
Griffin Thissell moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and took third on a wild pitch – with Jacques tying the game with a sacrifice fly. In the tenth,
Tyler Horner singled and was bunted into scoring position. Following an intentional walk to Jones, Bradshaw lined a fastball off the glove of diving shortstop Mike Fitzsimmons into shallow left – allowing Horner to score the winning run.
Jones finished 5-for-6 with four runs scored and four RBI, with Petrilla, Jacques and
Matthew Ortiz all recording three hits. OIT had a season-high 21 hits in the win.
Or had a huge game in the loss for UBC, going 6-for-7 with five RBI.
The T-Birds built a big lead in Game 2 – as Trent Lenihan recorded an RBI single in the second and a run-scoring double in the fifth, helping the Canadian side to a 6-1 lead. OIT countered with a 5-run fifth, as
Alonzo Vergara homered, Ortiz and Horner lined RBI singles, with
Ka'ala Tam lining a 2-run single to tie the score at 6-6.
UBC proved to be too much – as RBI singles from Hupe and Lenihan in the sixth gave the T-Birds the lead and the visitors added four unearned runs over the final three innings to put the game away.
Lenihan finished 4-for-6 with four RBI to back starter Ryan Heppner, who earned his sixth win after grinding through five innings. Brett Corbeth earned the save, allowing just one run in four innings of relief.
Horner was 4-for-5 in the loss – including his fifth homer of the year. Ortiz, Jones, Vergara and Jacques all posted two-hit games for Tech.
The Owls close out the regular-season next Saturday, hosting Simpson University in a non-conference doubleheader at 12 p.m.
