VANCOUVER - After 15 games and more than three weeks on the road, the no. 13 ranked UBC Thunderbirds (14-1, 8-0) finally kick-off their home schedule with a pair of conference doubleheaders this weekend against the College of Idaho Coyotes. Games begin at noon on Saturday and 11:00 a.m. on Sunday at Thunderbird Park.
The T-Birds and 'Yotes currently sit 1-2 in overall record in the NAIA West with UBC's sparkling mark of 14-1 slightly ahead of CI's 13-5 mark.
UBC's lone loss came in their second game of the season to no. 9 Fresno Pacific and the T-Birds have won 13 straight, including a perfect 8-0 record in conference play.
Idaho has lost a trio of games so far this season to perennial power Lewis-Clark State as well as dropping games to NAIA west teams Corban and Concordia.
Both squads' players are among NAIA West leaders in a variety of individual categories and this weekend's battle will settle the early season debate of who is the top team in the conference.
Despite some concern about a young offensive group, so far the T-Birds have gotten huge early season performances from a pair of standout freshman.
Keaton Briscoe leads UBC with a .420 batting average and has added three home runs and 17 RBIs in addition to a team-best 12 walks. Fellow rookie
Blake Carruthers, a red-shirt last season at Central Washington, has smacked four home runs and knocked in 12 RBIs while hitting .391 in addition to playing centre field.
It hasn't been all youth at the plate, as returning veterans
Nic Lendvoy,
Sammie Starr,
Mike Elias, and
Alex White also join the youngsters as UBC's most potent offensive threats.
Each player in that quartet is hitting at least .319 this year and they have combined for 18 doubles, eight home runs, and 46 RBIs. Lendvoy is UBC's biggest long-ball threat so far this year with a team-best five home runs and 20 RBIs.
On the mound, UBC has a plethora of arms at their disposal. The T-Birds roster features 10 pitchers with sub 3.90 ERAs. Leading that group is newcomer
Brandon Kaye who is sporting a 1.50 ERA in three starts and has allowed only 13 hits and three earned runs in 18 innings of work.
Fellow ace
Mark Hardy has also been great recently and has a team-leading 21 Ks through 20 innings. Newcomer
Sheldon McDonald gives UBC another potent left-handed starter behind Hardy and he is 2-0 this year thanks to a 2.40 ERA and nine strikeouts.
Eric Brown and Dan Britton-Foster are tied for the team lead with three conference wins while
Shawn Hetherington and
Taylor King have combined to earn seven saves in NAIA west action.
The Yotes offence has been surprisingly potent this year despite the loss of a number of starters. Diego Robles is the biggest threat as he carries a .508 batting average and an .810 slugging percentage that have led to a team-best five home runs and 27 RBIs.
In addition to Robles, the Yotes rely on hitting for average over power and they have 10 players hitting better than .300 this season.
Ben Rosen and Bobby Wassmann anchor CI's rotation and they are both 3-1 on the season with ERAs of 2.25 and 2.29 respectively. Third and fourth starter Chad Yeggy and Jacob Coats have also been solid as they are a combined 4-0 with ERAs of 3.38 and 3.63.
The Yotes don't have much depth in their pen as they have only two pitchers with ERAs of less than 3.97 who work late in games.
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