REDDING, CA - The no. 13 ranked UBC Thunderbirds got off to a perfect start in conference play, picking up three wins over Simpson University on a busy Saturday as they improved to 9-1 on the season and 3-0 in NAIA West play.
The first two games, which UBC won 3-0 and 3-1, saw the T-Birds get big games from their talented pitching staff as starters
Mark Hardy and
Eric Brown gave up only five hits and one run while getting 11 strikeouts over 12 innings of work.
Taylor King picked up the save in the first tilt, giving up just one hit and
Shawn Hetherington grabbed the save in the second game as Saturday's contests were just seven inning affairs.
Sammie Starr and
Bob Foerster each picked up a pair of hits in the T-Birds 3-0 win while
Nic Lendvoy and
Alex White did the same in UBC's second win.
The final tilt of the day saw the T-Bird bats come alive as they out distanced Simpson 15-2.
It was a trio of rookies that broke the game wide open as
Andrew Firth smacked a grand slam while
Keaton Briscoe added a three-run shot and
Blake Carruthers a solo home run in the victory.
Six other T-Birds knocked in runs, including a pair from both Lendvoy and sophomore
Sean Pisarski.
Sheldon McDonald got the win in his first conference start for the T-Birds with a trio of single innings from the bullpen.
UBC ends their California road trip tomorrow with a nine-inning affair against Simpson at 10:00 a.m.
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