“We had two solid pitching performances from Jessica (Ulrich) and Richelle (Ashburn) today,” said head coach Dan Powers. “We had our chances in game one and came out hitting the ball well in game two. Hannah (Klein) had a big day for us, as well. We battled today and persevered through the weather conditions.”
In game one, UBC would load the bases behind a Courtney O’Connor one out single to second base. Jesslyn Hodge gave the Thunderbirds an early lead with a sacrifice fly to right field to go into the bottom of the first with a 1-0 advantage.
Seattle U responded with four runs immediately. Sarah Petosa (Auburn, Wash.) led off with a walk and advanced on an illegal pitch during Katie Gould’s (Medford, Ore.) at bat. Gould would be walked and both players were advanced on a Brianna Guerrero's (Buena Park, Calif.) ground out. In the fourth spot, Allegra Wilde (Kennewick, Wash.) reached on a fielder’s choice, but the UBC throw was off target to score Petosa from third and Gould stole home to give SU a 2-1 lead. The inning continued with a Hannah Klein (Camarillo, Calif.) single to center field and a Natalie Leyland (Richland, Wash.) walk to load the bases. Karina Smyth (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) then singled to third base, bringing home Wilde. The British Columbia center fielder Alyssa Derksen committed an error on the play, scoring Klein and giving the Redhawks a 4-1 lead.
Redhawk pitcher Jessica Ulrich (Lewiston, Idaho) would keep UBC off the board until the third inning, when the Thunderbirds added a lone run off a one out Tanya McLean double to left field. British Columbia tacked on two additional runs in the top of the fifth to even the game 4-4.
Seattle U was unable to retake the lead, sending the game into extra innings. In the top of the ninth UBC’s Jessica Barclay hit a two out double to center field to score the game-winning run.
Ulrich had three strikeouts in nine innings of work.
After falling in extra innings, game two was dominated by the Redhawk offense. Behind Klein’s 2-for-4, three RBI and two run performance, SU defeated UBC 8-1.
Seattle U kicked off the game with a five-run first inning. The inning would open with a Petosa walk and Gould reached on an error. The bases were loaded on Wilde’s single to right field and Klein would bring home a pair of runs with a two RBI single to right field. With Wilde on third, Leyland reached on a fielder’s choice. The UBC shortstop Jesslyn Hodge attempted to throw out Wilde, but committed a throwing error allowing Wilde to score. The Redhawks would add two additional runs in their next at bats, seeing sacrifice flies from both Guerrero and Smyth.
In the bottom of the third, Smyth hit a one out triple down the left field line to make it a 6-1 game in favor of Seattle U.
British Columbia broke up starting pitcher Richelle Ashburn’s (Post Falls, Idaho) shutout in the fourth inning. With two outs and the bases loaded, Ashburn conceded a walk to Molly Gosnell to bring home the Thunderbirds’ lone run.
Ashburn went on to earn her second consecutive win, pitching 7.0 innings and throwing four strikeouts in 30 batters faced.
In the bottom of the fourth, Petosa led off with a single to right field and was advanced on a throwing error by UBC’s Brittany Meyer. With two outs, Klein doubled down the left field line to score Petosa. Leyland followed with a double to left center to score Klein and give SU an 8-1 lead that they would preserve to close out the game.
Klein would put go 4-for-9, with three RBIs and three runs on the day to lead the team.
The Redhawks will return to the road for the UNLV Pre-Conference Roundup from Friday, Apr. 1 to Saturday, Apr. 2. SU (3-19) will face BYU, Loyola Marymount and UNLV over the four-game two day tournament.