The University of the Fraser Valley Cascades are 6-2 in early-season action after a three-win weekend in Calgary.
UFV faced the Calgary Dinos in back-to-back double-headers Saturday and Sunday.
The Cascades took the opener 7-0 behind nine innings of shutout pitching from Vernon native Dylan Emmons.
The third-year hurler threw a complete game, allowing just four baserunners (three hits, one walk) over nine innings. Meanwhile, the UFV offence banged out 12 hits and drew four walks against Calgary pitching.
Leadoff man Josh Berenbaum (Richmond) led the attack, going 4-5 at the dish with a steal and two runs scored.
Cloverdale native Markus Gregson batted in five runs on two hits with Riley Jepson (Kamloops) driving home a pair.
The UFV offence continued to roll in game two. Berenbaum and Chilliwack native Colin Kellington had three hits apiece in a 12-9 win.
Tied 9-9 heading into their half of the eighth inning, Berenbaum and Kellington got on base with singles and Berenbaum came home on a Jepson double.
After an intentional walk to Gregson loaded the bases, Horner clubbed a double to drive home Kellington and Jepson.
Horner had five RBI’s.
Chilliwack’s Dan Rogers earned the win on the mound, pitching the final two innings.
UFV put another 10 runs on the board in the third game, a 10-7 victory.
Trailing 7-3 through three innings, the Cascades produced one run in the fifth and five in the sixth, tacking on an insurance run in the eighth.
UFV base runners were active in this one, with Kellington and Jepson stealing two bags each.
The heart of the order (Jepson/Gregson/Horner) combined to go 8-14 with four doubles, one triple and seven RBIs.
The UFV bats finally cooled off in the Sunday finale, a 4-0 shutout win for the Dinos. Ens took a hard-luck loss, allowing just one earned run through six innings.
Rogers pitched the seventh, allowing one run on three hits with a strikeout.
The Cascades come out of the weekend sitting second in the Canadian Colleges Baseball Conference standings.
“(Dylan) Emmons had an outstanding start again and we got good mound efforts by (Liam) Campbell and (Walt) Eschner,” said Cascades coach Shawn Corness. “And we had a strong offence all weekend led by (Marcus) Gregson, (Riley) Jepson and (Steven) Horner.
“We have been competing very well, though I would like to see us dial in better throughout the pitching staff with less walks and more pitching to contact. But it’s been a great start to the year as a team and we will continue to work on certain aspects every week.”
The team right above them is the opposition this weekend as UFV takes on the Vancouver Island Mariners (7-1) in a home-and-home double-header.
The Cascades are at Serauxmen Field in Nanaimo for games Saturday at 1 and 4 p.m.
They’re home at Fairfield Island Sunday, with first pitches at noon and 3 p.m.
See ccbc.pointstreaksites.com/view/ccbc/ for more info.