Six home runs, including a grand slam, left the yard, 29 runs were scored on 30 hits, but in the end it was a one-run game as The Master’s University baseball team fell short to the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds 15-14 Thursday at Lou Herwaldt Stadium.

“Two bad innings, that was all our pitchers gave up,” said TMU head coach Monte Brooks. “I’m really encouraged with the guys to play nine (innings). We’ve been talking about winning pitch by pitch by pitch, and they did their best to do that. Fourteen runs usually is a victory.”

The first inning started bad for the Mustangs (8-3, 2-1). An error with two outs in the inning brought home a run for the Thunderbirds, which was then followed by an RBI single, a 3-run home run and a 2-run home run to put seven on the board before TMU even got to bat. All seven of those runs were unearned.

A solo shot to right by Ryan Mathiesen put a run on the board for The Master’s, which was answered by UBC in the top of the second to make the score 8-1.

The scored stayed that way until the bottom of the fourth when Kobe Katayama blasted a grand slam, the first home run of the season for the centerfielder and second of his career, to put the Mustangs right back in the game. Four batters later, Mathiesen hit an RBI single to score Owen Payn to make it 8-6.

TMU took the lead in the fifth when Tommy Gwinn hit into a fielder’s choice that scored Conor Christiansen. a href=”https://gomustangs.com/sports/baseball/roster/austin-young/1429″ rel=”smarttag” rev=”1429″ data-airgap-id=”68″>Austin Young followed that with an RBI single to score Payn, then Mathiesen singled to center to score Gwinn to make it 9-8 Mustangs.

But in the top of the sixth the Thunderbirds answered with another 3-run home run followed by an RBI single to jump back out in front 12-9.

The Master’s answered the call in their very next at bat when Young singled to left to score Payn and Katayama. The very next batter, Mathiesen, hit his second home run of the game, this one with both Gwinn and Young on board, to put the Mustangs back on top 14-12.

It stayed that way until the top of the ninth when a single and a double scored three for UBC, giving them a 15-14 lead. The Master’s could not push across a lead-off walk, and the Thunderbirds, ranked No. 24 in the NAIA, left with a victory.

“We’ve got to overcome the adversity, re-group and go get them tomorrow,” Brooks said.

Mathiesen finished 4 for 5 with the two home runs and six RBI. Young was 3 for 5 with three RBI, with Katayama going 2 for 4 with 4 RBI compliments of his first career grand slam. Ty Beck also collected a pair of hits in the game.

The Master’s will once again take on the University of British Columbia on Friday at Lou Herwaldt Stadium. It will be the second game of the day for the Thunderbirds as they will also play Providence Christian College at Lou Herwaldt Stadium in a game set to start at 10:30 a.m. The TMU/UBC game will start 30 minutes after the end of the first game, at approximately 2 p.m.