VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Josh Ashenbrenner's two-out RBI double in the top of the eighth inning broke a 5-5 tie and helped top-ranked Lewis-Clark State College defeat No. 4 University of British Columbia 6-5 in a battle of Top 25 NAIA teams on Saturday.The Warriors, 32-3, bounced back from 4-1 defeat on Friday by collecting 14 base hits and riding the arm of reliever Henry Buenrostro, who pitched a season-high four innings and picked up his fourth win. Buenrostro, who also has six saves, allowed just one hit and one walk over the final four innings with two strikeouts.
The contest was a typical meeting between the two teams as five of the last nine meetings has been decided by one run with LCSC having a 4-1 advantage in those games.
The Warriors, who scored all of their runs with two outs, raced out to a 5-0 lead in the top of the fourth, but by the bottom of the sixth UBC had tied the score.
LCSC took a 1-0 lead in the first when Trent Bridges and Brian Burke hit consecutive singles with two outs. Pat Murray followed with a double down the left-field line to score Bridges.
After the first two batters were retired in the top of the fourth, the Warrors went to work. Jason Hague was hit by a pitch, stole second, and scored on a single by Ashenbrenner. Bridges then singled up the middle and Burke followed with his team-leading 15th home run of the season, this one to left field.
UBC picked up a pair of runs off LCSC starter Tyler Lichty in the bottom of the inning. Cody Fassold replaced Lichty with two outs and the bases loaded, and did give up a single for the second run, but retired the next batter on a strikeout.
After scoring again in the fifth, UBC added two more in the sixth to tie the game. Fassold gave up a single and a walk, and then was replaced by Buenrostro. After an error, Buenrosro retired the next two hitters on ground outs, but both drove in runs to tie the game.
In the LCSC eighth, Kawika Emsley-Pai drew a one-out walk and was replaced by pinch runner Connor Moore. After Hague struck out, Ashenbrenner doubled to the gap in right-center field, which scored Moore.
Ashenbrenner finished with two hits and two RBI in the contest, which allowed him to stretch his hitting streak to eight games. Burke and Bridges each had three hits and Burke drove in three runs.
Despite giving up four earned runs, LCSC's pitching staff still leads the NAIA with a 2.54 earned run average.
The two teams will finish the three-game series on Sunday in a single game at 2 p.m.
