VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds (9-5 overall, 2-2 conference) will try to keep their momentum from a split with NAIA No. 2 Lewis-Clark State as they head to Portland, Ore. this weekend for another tough four-game conference series, this time against the Concordia (Ore.) Cavaliers (12-5 overall, 3-1 conference).
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A 2-2 record doesn't jump off the paper at anyone, but when you put it in context, head coach
Terry McKaig and the T-Birds have plenty of reasons to be quite proud of that record. Their conference opening series against LC State was originally scheduled to for Thunderbird Park until it was moved down to Lewiston, Idaho due to the weather forecast in Vancouver.
Playing the second-ranked team in the NAIA is tough enough to start the year, let alone having to shift gears to a road series at the last minute, and the T-Birds were welcomed to Lewiston with a 13-1 dismantling that could have signalled the start of a very long weekend ahead for UBC. But the 'Birds came back with a strong effort to win two of their last three against LC State to grab a well-earned split.
Such a display of resolve and mental toughness so early in the season is a terrific omen for the T-Birds. Beating good teams away from home is a necessary part of any NAIA team's postseason plans due to the structure of the league's playoffs (a series of tournaments). So beating the NAIA World Series hosts in their own backyard is a good start.
The bats were really working against LC State's tough pitching staff. UBC had double digit hit totals in each of the last three games of the series, and seven different regulars are hitting above .300 heading into Portland this week.
Kevin Biro leads the club with a .368 average, and is second with 10 runs batted in.
Tyler Enns is hitting .364 with a .512 on-base percentage, and
Vinny Martin is hitting .308 and leading the team with 12 RBIs. Last season's record-setting offensive leader,
Tyson Popoff, is right in the mix too, hitting .328.
But the big breakout hitters from that first conference series were outfielders
Bryan Arthur and
Max Hollingworth. Arthur, a third-year player and first-year starter, hit 6-for-12 with six RBIs and two walks to lead the offence, while Hollingworth, a freshman, went 7-for-15 in his first conference action as a T-Bird. Nobody's going to hit .500 for very long, but if those guys can maintain anything close to that level of production on a consistent basis, the future is very bright for UBC's outfield.
The Cavs, on the other hand, have built their success around their pitching more than their offence. The team is hitting a respectable .274, but that's over a very small sample size of mostly non-conference games, and their overall strength of schedule to this point is probably not as high as UBC's.
But their 2.86 team ERA is hard to ignore, regardless of competition. Three different Cavs pitchers are actually under the 2.00 mark. Senior starter Jon Yearout is their only regular pitcher with an ERA above 3.17 right now, and he ended up as their top hurler last year, posting a 1.84 ERA in 78.1 innings, so obviously the Cavs have a very talented and deep pitching staff.
Harrisson McGahee is leading the group this year, with a 3-2 record and a 1.32 ERA in 34.0 innings of work. He also has 39 strikeouts to 10 walks, and a .159 opponent batting average. Austin Hadley has been similarly dominant, with a 1.78 ERA, 34 strikeouts and just three walks in 25.1 innings.
