KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Ninth inning heroics propelled Oregon Tech to a key series victory over No. 23-ranked British Columbia, getting consecutive walk-off winners to sweep a doubleheader from the Thunderbirds at Steen Sports Park.
The Hustlin' Owls (17-11, 3-1 CCC) rallied from a 7-3 deficit to win today's opener, 9-8, while Tech rode stellar pitching and a timely ninth inning single for a 1-0 shutout victory in the series finale.
"It was a good team weekend," said OIT head coach
Jacob Garsez. "Our team showed toughness and a willingness to respond well to adversity. We have a lot of quality depth in this program - it was good to see everyone contributing to our success."
Cody Dubray and three relievers combined on the 3-hit shutout in Game 2 – stranding a runner at third base in the first, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings. Dubray tossed six innings, allowing just two hits and a walk, striking out nine.
Tim Williams threw a scoreless seventh,
Brian McClelland worked the eighth, with
Riley Cronin throwing a 1-2-3 ninth.
OIT stranded 12 runners through the first eight innings, as the T-Birds (16-12, 1-3) Ryan Beitel worked 7-plus innings of shutout ball. However, in the ninth, singles from
Matthew Ortiz and Ryan Horner and a walk to
Julien Jones loaded the bases. With two outs,
Alonzo Vergara lined a base hit to plate Ortiz – setting off the second celebration of the day.
Horner was 3-for-5, with Ortiz and
Ka'ala Tam each recording 2-hit games.
UBC had control of the opener, getting an Aaron Marsh 2-run double in the fourth and a Kenny Scott RBI double in the fifth to give the Canadian squad a 7-3 lead.
Tech battled back, scoring three runs in the fifth – including a Jones RBI single and a Tam sacrifice fly to pull within a run – tying the game in the sixth on a
Kyle Norton RBI ground out.
The T-Birds manufactured an eighth inning run off a David Draayers ground out, but OIT rallied against UBC closer Vic Domingo. Cronin led off with a single and scored on a game-tying triple from Tam.
Logan Macy followed with a fly ball to right – deep enough to plate Tam with the winning run.
Landon Cheney threw four innings of 1-run relief to earn the win, with
Patrick Barry going 3-for-3 and both Ortiz and Horner recording two hits. Trent Lenihan was 3-for-4 with two RBI and Scott had two doubles in the loss for UBC.
OIT hits the road next weekend, traveling to College of Idaho for a 4-game series.
