Every game was close, and the VIBI Mariners kept finding a way to win.
Nanaimo’s Vancouver Island Baseball Institute Mariners won three out of four games this past weekend against the Okanagan Coyotes in Canadian College Baseball Conference action at Serauxmen Stadium.
It was the second-straight three-win weekend for VIBI and lifted the Mariners (8-8) past the Coyotes in the standings. The M’s won by scores of 3-2 and 3-1 on Saturday, then won Sunday’s early game 2-1 before falling 5-4 in the series finale.
The M’s set the tone for the weekend in the first game, pushing the winning run across in the bottom of the ninth inning. Bryan O’Hara’s RBI single scored Gobind Sall. Andrew Evernden and Sall had two hits apiece and Kris Phillips was the winning pitcher.
In the second game, Kenton Schroter earned the ‘W’ on the mound, going seven innings, allowing four hits and striking out six. Offence came from Connor Merilees and Tyson Dyck, who had two hits apiece.
Sunday’s game turned in the sixth inning, when Merilees hit a two-run home run that held up as the winning hit. Austin Penner threw seven innings, allowing only two hits and no earned runs.
The Mariners had a chance to sweep the weekend, as they led the finale 4-0, but surrendered the winning run in the top of the ninth. Dyck had two doubles and Sall had a pair of hits, too.
GAME ON … The M’s play exhibition games Wednesday (April 15) on the mainland against Douglas College. VIBI’s only other home games this season will be April 29 against Douglas.