VANCOUVER - The Thunderbirds cruised through the early part of their schedule before running into a buzzsaw in the form of two dangerous rivals from Idaho. The College of Idaho Coyotes and Lewis-Clark State Warriors combined to hand the 'Birds seven losses over their last eight games, but they remain in contention for the NAIA West lead and are ready to resume the chase against Concordia down in Oregon this weekend.
All games will feature
live online statistics and
live video.
GAME TIMES
Fri., Apr. 13 - UBC at Concordia (6 p.m. at Hilken Stadium, Portland, Oregon)
Sat., Apr. 14 - UBC at Concordia (2 p.m. at Hilken Stadium, Portland, Oregon) - DOUBLEHEADER
Sun., Apr. 15 - UBC at Concordia (11 a.m. at Hilken Stadium, Portland, Oregon)
UBC Thunderbirds
2012 record: 18-13 overall, 11-9 conference
Last Week: Bye
The T-Birds had all sorts of trouble against LC State at home in their last action before the bye. They got nothing going offensively, suffering three shutouts in the four-game series, and their relievers got touched up to the tune of 15 ninth-inning runs in the series.
Those had been the biggest areas of strength for the 'Birds prior to that series, as the offence had scored in double digits in nine of their first 27 games, and closer
Conor Lillis-White started the season with more than 13 innings of shutout ball. Several injuries hampered the 'Birds against LC State though, and there's still time to get healthy and back on track in time for a deep playoff run.
One of those injuries kept centre fielder
Blake Carruthers out of the lineup for all four games against the Warriors, and UBC sure could have used his hot bat. He leads the team with a .385 average and his .480 on-base percentage is fifth in the conference. He is also one of their biggest threats on the basepaths, so getting him back should jumpstart the offence.
Third baseman
Andrew Firth has been one of the most consistent T-Birds this year. He can play gold glove-calibre defence at the hot corner, and he leads the team with 30 RBI on .331 hitting.
Nick Senior is also hitting .331, and although his power numbers have plateaued he remains a potent and versatile weapon offensively, getting on base at a .441 clip with seven steals on seven attempts. If he can rediscover the groove that had him hitting well over .400 with a slugging percentage in the high .600s earlier in the season, the 'Birds will have nothing to worry about offensively as they gear up for the playoffs.
Tavis Bruce continues to lead the starting rotation with a 2.53 ERA, but senior starter
Danny Britton-Foster has been coming on strong lately. He's gone deep into ballgames consistently in his last few starts and has his ERA down to 3.02 with the best strikeout to walk ratio of any UBC starter at nearly three to one.
Walks have been giving
David Otterman some trouble, but he's still been solid with a 3.47 ERA and a 4-3 record in eight starts this year. Freshman
Alex Graham is coming off his best outing of the year, throwing eight shutout innings against the Warriors in the series finale two weeks ago.
Concordia Cavaliers
2012 record: 19-20 overall, 11-13 conference
Last Week: W 7-2, L 14-2, L 19-3, L 7-6 at LC State
The Cavaliers can feel the T-Birds' pain, having also just faced the College of Idaho and LC-State in consecutive weeks. They managed to pick up a win in game one against the Warriors before their pitchers got roughed up in the final three games of the series, but they are still in good position to qualify for the regional playoff tournament.
Mike Cero is a big reason for that, leading the squad with a whopping .413 batting average, .500 on-base percentage and .603 slugging percentage. He's also the team RBI leader with 26 on the year.
While Cero is the only major power threat in the lineup, the Cavaliers do have a few reliable hitters around him. Jared Young and Sheldon Austria are both hitting over .340 for the year, and Jordan Keeker is at .303.
But while thier hitters are keeping up with the stronger teams in the NAIA West, pitching is where the Cavs falter. Their team ERA is third-worst in the conference at 5.56, with Larsen Kohler standing alone as the only man with a sub-4.00 ERA at 3.71. He is 5-3 in eight starts with 68 innings under his belt this year.
Jason Snodgrass seems to be the Cavs' lucky charm, posting a 6-2 record despite the team's overall struggles and his 4.31 ERA. Mitch Ludtke and Eric Weir haven't been so lucky, with a combined 4-8 record and ERAs of 4.93 and 7.68 respectively.
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