Blake Murphy Sports Writing

VANCOUVER – One day after losing to a walk-off grand slam, the UBC Thunderbirds made sure no such scenario was possible on Friday, hammering Westmont College 8-0.

BOX SCORE

Coming off a heartbreaking 7-5 loss on Thursday, UBC struck with two runs in the top of the first inning and never looked back. Greg Densem (Toronto, ON) doubled in Tyson Popoff(Richmond, BC) before Sebastian Wong (Abbotsford, BC) scored on a Warriors’ throwing error to start the Birds off on the right foot

They added a single run in the fourth and the seventh before capping the day with a four-spot in the top of the ninth. The ninth was highlighted by a two-run triple from Jeremy Kral (Prince George, BC), who is off to a hot start but hadn’t seen his RBI total climb with his batting average until Friday.

The offensive outpouring was a balanced team effort, with no player collecting more than a pair of RBI. Seven of the nine starters collected hits with seven different runners crossing the plate, helping UBC to push back above the .500-mark with a 6-5 record.

Andrew Firth (London, ON) had three hits while Popoff also reached three times and added his first stolen base of the season.

The Thunderbirds got equally large contributions on the mound. Matt Thornton (Campbell River, BC) threw an extremely efficient five innings, requiring just 58 pitches. He allowed just a pair of hits, no walks and struck out three. Thornton improved to 1-1 on the year, a much needed boost of confidence as he had struggled in the early going.

Thornton was relieved by Sean Callagari (Richmond, BC), who needed just 56 pitches to cruise through the final four innings, picking up the rare long-relief save. Callagari sat down three Warriors, allowing just four hits and dropping his ERA more than two full runs in the process.

UBC and Westmont will look to settle the best-of-three series on Saturday at 11 a.m. in Santa Barbara. The Thunderbirds are 5-2 so far on their week-long trip through California.