Big 8th inning gives Mustangs 1-run win

A Conor Christiansen home run and a safety squeeze got three runs across for The Master's in the bottom of the eighth in a come-from-behind 5-4 win over No. 24 University of British Columbia Friday at Lou Herwaldt Stadium.

"Excellent, excellent victory, especially with what took place yesterday," TMU Head Coach Monte Brooks said, referring to Friday's 15-14 loss to the Thunderbirds. "(British Columbia) is a very good club with a plethora of talent, and we played two great games overall. So overcoming the adversity and the disappointment of last night and do what they did today is really a feather in (our player's) cap. It speaks volumes about their dedication and commitment."

The Mustangs (9-3) scored first when Cason Brownell's single in the bottom of the second scored Ty Beck to make it 1-0.

The score stayed that way until the seventh inning when UBC's David Draayers hit a 2-run home run to right to lift the Thunderbirds to a 2-1 lead.

But that lead did not last as Ryan Mathiesen's RBI single that scored Joe DeFrancisco in the bottom of the seventh tied it at 2-2.

British Columbia answered in the top of the eighth with a 2-run single to make it 4-2.

Christianson's shot over the left field fence to lead off The Master's half of the eighth brought the home squad to within a run. Then, with Cason Brownell on third and Owen Payn on second, Tommy Gwinn executed a perfect safety squeeze to score Brownell to tie the game at 4-4. Austin Young then singled to center to drive in Payn and the Mustangs took the lead 5-4.

Mathiesen came in to get a pair of strikeouts in the top of the ninth inning to secure his fourth save of the season.

J.T. Friesen got the start on the hill and went 7.0 innings, gave up two earned runs on five hits and struck out five. He threw 99 pitches in his seven innings of work.

"J.T. was phenomenal," Brooks said. "He left one pitch up and the kid got it. Just one pitch shy of complete domination. He kept us in the game the whole time and gave us a chance to win it, and the kids did it."

The rubber game of the series between these two teams will happen Saturday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m.