OIT Eliminated in Shutout Loss to UBC
VANCOUVER – Freshman Danny Britton-Foster threw a complete-game shutout on Tuesday night to give his UBC Thunderbirds a 4-0 win over the Oregon Tech Hustlin’ Owls at Nat Bailey Stadium, giving the T-Birds a shot at the NAIA West title on Wednesday.
Bob Foerster’s sac fly in the second inning wasn’t the most dramatic game-winning run scoring play of the T-Birds’ season, or even of the day, as Nic Lendvoy’s walk-off bases-clearing double in the morning game would hold that distinction, but thanks to a brilliant performance on the mound by Britton-Foster, it stood up as all the offence the ‘Birds needed to advance to the final round of the NAIA West National Qualifying Tournament.
“The only story tonight is what Danny was able to do,” said UBC coach Terry McKaig. “To come out after having a relief appearance yesterday and throw a complete game, keeping his pitch count down, I give all the credit in the world to him. What a performance.”
Britton-Foster scattered just four hits through nine innings and didn’t walk a batter, but wasn’t afraid to challenge hitters to put the ball in play and let his defence go to work either.
“I tried to hit bats rather than go for strikeouts, and keep my pitch count low,” said Britton-Foster. “I trust my fielders; they are the best in the country.”
With this being the T-Birds’ third game in two days, and the prospect of two more games to look forward to tomorrow, the pressure was certainly on for the freshman pitcher to go deep into the game to preserve the arms in the bullpen.
“It was so critical for Danny to get the complete game and for us to not have to use our bullpen,” said McKaig. “This way we’ve got some arms left for tomorrow, so now we just have to come out and swing the bats and see what we can do.”
But the young pitcher didn’t appear to let that pressure affect his performance.
“I didn’t really think about the pressure,” said Britton-Foster. “I was just thinking ‘be calm, be loose, hit bats.’ Easy stuff.”
Scott Webster and Ryan Pilgrim added RBIs in the third and fifth innings respectively, and Mitch Grossel added an exclamation point to the game in the ninth with a pinch-hit solo homerun over the right-field wall.
Frank Charlton took the loss for Oregon Tech despite having a solid performance. He gave up just three runs, only one earned, over six innings while striking out three batters.
The T-Birds will now do battle with the Cal State Cougars tomorrow at Nat Bailey for the NAIA West title. The Cougars need just one win to take the tournament, but if the T-Birds can win the first game at noon, the tournament will be decided by a second game scheduled for 3 p.m.