VANCOUVER - A battle of division leaders in NAIA West baseball is scheduled for this weekend at Thunderbird Park as the North-leading no. 4 UBC Thunderbirds (31-8, 22-2) welcome the South-leading Oregon Tech Hustlin' Owls (25-21, 17-10) for a pair of conference doubleheaders.
Saturday's twin-bill begins at 12:00 p.m. with Sunday's games starting at 11:00 a.m.
UBC currently has a three loss cushion over second-place and no. 21 College of Idaho (29-11, 19-5) in the race for first in the North and the right to host the regional qualifier.
A look at the Thunderbirds
Last weekend, the T-Birds went 1-2 against the no. 1 ranked L-C State Warriors (35-3) at Thunderbird Park. UBC opened the series with a convincing 4-1 win but a pair of early deficits sent them to 6-5 and 8-4 losses in games two and three.
Despite the two-loss weekend, the T-Birds still rank second in NAIA West in batting average (.322) and first in ERA (3.32).
Offensively, freshman third baseman
Keaton Briscoe tops the UBC line-up with a .379 average and ranks second on the team with 31 RBIs. Designated hitter
Nic Lendvoy has been a consistent threat at the plate this season and leads the team with 57 hits, 13 doubles and 38 RBIs to go along with five home runs. Senior shortstop
Sammie Starr has continued to get better as the season progresses and sports a .359 batting average, 55 hits, 12 doubles, and 28 RBIs in addition to a team-best 12 stolen bases.
Eric Brown is a perfect 7-0 in 10 starts this season and has a team-leading 2.15 ERA to front a very solid top four rotation. Lefties
Sheldon McDonald (6-2, 2.55 ERA, 42 K, 8 BB) and
Mark Hardy (4-2, 4.18 ERA, 45 K) have been great in the seven-inning second half of doubleheaders.
Brandon Kaye (5-1, 3.25 ERA) was saddled with his first loss of the season against L-C State and will be looking for redemption this weekend after his worst start of the year.
A look at the Hustlin' Owls
Oregon Tech clinched their second straight NAIA West South divisional title last weekend. By the numbers they are the third best team in the NAIA West, behind UBC and C of I, with a .314 team batting average and their pitching staff has 4.93 ERA.
Colin Stock tops NAIA West with a .403 batting average and has ammassed 64 hits, 12 doubles, seven home runs, and 44 RBIs while striking out only 18 times in 159 at-bats. Ryson Mauricio, the 2009 Cascade Conference Player of the Year, hasn't been as good as he was last year but has respectable numbers - a .345 batting average to go along with 14 doubles, five home runs, and 41 RBIs. As a squad they have seven regulars batting above .300.
On the mound, their staff has been solid but not unhittable. Shea Bedortha (4-1, 3.59 ERA, 38 K, 20 BB) is their top starter and their four go-to guys are a combined 19-16 on the season. In the pen they have a number of serviceable relievers but none of whom have an ERA below 3.68 and as a team they have only three saves in 25 wins.
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