VANCOUVER – UBC kicked off its inaugural home softball schedule with a double-header against #8 ranked Simon Fraser at London Park in Richmond.
The T-Birds got out to a good start in the first game, but lost 8-3 after SFU's bats got going.
The trend continued into the second game as Simon Fraser racked up ten unanswered runs, putting an end to the contest after five innings.
“The first game was very good for us,” said UBC head coach, Phil Thom. “We were able to compete in that game. But as the day progressed, you could see that SFU has the power hitting through their line up. By the time you've pitched two or three times to the same batter, it shows how strong they are by comparison.”
SFU's Leah Riske was one of those sluggers. Riske hit a pair of three-run homers, one in each of the day's games. SFU hit five homeruns in total.
UBC's first score of the day came on a homerun of their own. Shortstop Jess Hodge sent one deep over the fences, a solo shot that put the Thunderbirds on the board.
That was the beginning of UBC's most productive stretch.
Chelsey Rodgers and
Jessica Barclay each had an rbi in the second inning of the first game, which gave UBC a temporary 3-1 lead.
T-Birds' catcher
Tanya McLean also came up with a strong offensive performance, hitting 2 for 3 in the day's first game.
SFU out hit UBC 10-6 in the first game, and 12-2 in the second.
Nicole Day and
Kelsey Andison were UBC's losing pitchers, while SFU's Jennifer Van Egdom and Myriam Porier had the wins.
Despite a total of seven errors in the two games, Thom was pleased with his club's performance.
“For a first year team, I was really happy,” said Thom. “We'll work hard, get better, and keep on plugging away. We'll take our lumps and learn from it. We can only get better by playing good competition like SFU.”
Up next for the Thunderbirds are a pair of games against Oregon's Corban College to kick off three days of softball on the road.
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