VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds won five straight to close out their preseason schedule, and they will be looking to carry that momentum into conference action this weekend as they open up against the Menlo College Oaks.
All games will feature
live statistics.
GAME TIMES
Fri., Mar. 2 - Menlo at UBC (1 p.m. at Thunderbird Park, Vancouver)
Sat., Mar. 3 - Menlo at UBC (12 p.m. at Thunderbird Park - DOUBLE HEADER)
Sun., Mar. 4 - Menlo at UBC (11 a.m. at Thunderbird Park)
UBC Thunderbirds
2012 record: 7-4 overall, 0-0 conference
Last Week: W 8-2 vs Redlands, W 12-2 vs Whittier, W 5-0 vs Chapman
The T-Birds have a full head of steam heading into their first weekend of NAIA conference play. Beginning with an 8-7 win over then-#10 Biola, UBC has a streak of five straight impressive wins going.
After Biola, they crushed Simpson, Redlands and Whittier by scores of 20-4, 8-2 and 12-2, and finished with a 5-0 shutout of Chapman, last year's NCAA Div. III silver medalists.
Despite losing four starters to the professional ranks, the pitching seems to be coming around for this year's edition of the squad once again. After some shaky mound performances early in the preseason, UBC has held opponents to two runs or less in three straight.
Tavis Bruce was the man behind the Chapman shutout, throwing six innings of one-hit ball to get the 'Birds started. Freshman reliever Connor Lillis-White continued his hot start with two more scoreless innings. He also played a big part in the win over Biola, getting the 'Birds out of a late jam in the eighth and closing things out in the ninth for the save.
David Otterman and
Danny Britton-Foster both had their best starts of the season during the recent win streak as well, so the arms should be primed and ready for this weekend.
At the plate, the 'Birds hope that
Nick Senior will continue mashing his way into conference play after homering four times in their 11 preseason games.
Mike Hole has two bombs and
Matt Spillman,
Blake Carruthers Jarod Bartnik and
Andrew Firth have all gone deep for UBC as well. Their power will be put to the test this weekend though, as the ball tends to have an easier time escaping a park down in California than it does at Nat Bailey in March.
Menlo Oaks
2012 record: 4-12 overall, 1-3 conference
Last Week: W 9-5, L 9-8, L 9-2 L 7-2 vs Lewis-Clark State
The Oaks had a rough preseason as the offence struggled mightily, but they did manage to grab a win against No. 11 Lewis-Clark State in their conference season opener.
Although they went on to drop the next three games of the series, they took the Warriors to extra innings in one game and managed to put up 21 runs over four games against a very good team.
Starting pitcher Sean Sweeney is off to a great start despite his team's struggles. He accounts for two of their wins, leading the team with a 2.25 ERA after two starts. Tristan Heckerl is 1-3 in his four starts with a 3.20 ERA, but sky-high walk numbers will keep him from being effective until he can gets under control.
Derek Martinez has big stirkeout numbers, fanning more than a batter per inning after four starts, but he's also been very hittable and has a 4.15 ERA to show for it.
John Hanley leads the struggling offence, hitting .261 on the year with a .370 on-base percentage. Collin Forgey is their power man with three homers and a .571 slugging percentage, but he and every other Oaks starter hits below .250, putting pressure on the pitching staff to be near-perfect. Menlo has been held to two runs or less in 10 of their 16 games.
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