Warriors swept by No. 5-ranked T-birds in twin bill

April 21, 2006

BOX SCORES - GAME #1 | GAME #2

Story courtesy of Marc Weber, University of British Columbia's Communications Coordinator

Junior Jeremy Frantz normally hits long balls, but played "small ball" against nationally-ranked British Columbia with a perfectly executed squeeze bunt in the night cap for 1 of his 2 RBIs

VANCOUVER, B.C. – Despite a combined 4 RBIs by junior Jeremy Frantz (Medford, Ore.) and sophomore Scott Flux (Salem, Ore.), Corban’s baseball team dropped a regional double header to the NAIA’s No. 5-ranked British Columbia, 5-0 & 5-4, at Nat Bailey Stadium.

In the opener, UBC’s Doug Grant had a perfect game going through four-and-a-third until senior Jesse Gaylord (Portland, Ore.) hit a bloop single to right. Grant ended up combining with Matt Miller and Tim Henderson for a two-hitter and the Thunderbird offence gave them early breathing room with all five runs in the first four innings.

Already up 3-0, Steve Bell-Irving led off the third with a solo home run, the fifth of the campaign for UBC’s red-hot DH.

Tyler Hughes and Tyler Willson were both 2-for-3 for UBC, while Gaylord had both hits for the visitors. Grant improved to 7-1 with five innings of one-hit baseball and four strikeouts. Sophomore starter Jordan Emery (Salem, Ore.) took the loss for Corban, allowing three runs (all earned) on five hits and four walks in four innings.

In the night cap, UBC’s Adam Campbell walked, advanced to third on a Bell-Irving single and scored the winning run on a balk by junior starter Scott Fitchett (Sandpoint, Idaho) in the seventh inning, as the Thunderbirds squeaked out a 5-4 victory.

Corban led 3-1 through three-and-a-half innings before UBC put up three runs in the fourth to take the lead. Brendan Kornberger accounted for the last two with a blast to left field, his fifth home run of the season and the team’s record-setting 34th.

The Warriors tied the game at 4-4 in the top of the seventh when Frantz executed a perfect squeeze bunt to score sophomore Jamie McGraw (Gaston, Ore.), but Fitchett’s subsequent slip up proved costly.

The junior right-hander allowed five runs on five hits and five walks through seven. The Thunderbirds’ senior right-hander Joe Forest gave up more runs (3) than hits (2), while striking out three, walking two, and hitting three batters in five innings that resulted in a no decision. Brendan Rolfe, one of four relievers for UBC, moved to 2-1 despite allowing the tying run in his only inning, while Joey Benda came on in the ninth and fanned a pair for his sixth save.

With the losses, Corban falls to 8-23 overall, 3-17 in Region I play. British Columbia improves to 35-9 overall, 23-2 in Region I action. The same two teams do battle at Nat Bailey on Saturday with another double-header beginning at noon.