VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds enter the last stretch of the regular season with a great shot at locking down hosting rights for the NAIA West Tournament. With a one-game lead and one conference series left, the 'Birds control their own destiny as they host the Simpson Redhawks this Friday and Saturday at Thunderbird Park.
Head coach
Terry McKaig is going for his 500th victory as the bench boss of the Thunderbirds, a figure that includes wins from UBC's two exhibition seasons (1998 and 1999) after the program's resurrection in 1997.
Five graduating players,
Sean Callegari,
Tyson Popoff,
Matt Spillman,
Matt Thornton and
Sebastian Wong, will be honoured between games on Saturday, which will also be the UBC baseball program's Alumni Day.
Splitting their series with Corban last week kept the T-Birds one step ahead of the Warriors in the chase for that top spot and hosting rights for the conference tournament. Lewis-Clark State actually has the best record in the conference at 17-3, but they will skip the conference tourney as perennial hosts of the NAIA World Series. UBC is 16-8 in the conference, while Corban is 15-9 and the College of Idaho is 14-10.
The Redhawks, meanwhile, have struggled this season, racking up a 1-39 overall record and 1-19 in the conference. Baseball is the kind of sport where, no matter what the match-up looks like on paper, a hot starting pitcher, a timely hit or unfortunate bounce can swing a single game either way, so nothing can be taken for granted this weekend. That said, this is certainly an advantageous match-up for the T-Birds, and a golden opportunity to close out the regular season strong and earn home field advantage to start the playoffs.
Conor Lillis-White is coming off his third complete-game shutout of the season against Corban, shaving the ERA down to 0.65, which is second in the NAIA. On Tuesday, he earned NAIA West Red Lion Pitcher of the Week honours for the second time this season. The big lefty has been stingy with the runs all season long, but he has really limited the walks lately after struggling some with that aspect of the game early in the season, which has led to his consistent deep outings lately.
Sean Callegari also picked up a complete-game win last weekend, allowing just a single run to bring his ERA down to 2.98.
Bryan Pawlina is at 2.32, and
Jeremy Newton is at 3.02, giving the 'Birds a full rotation of reliable starters that will be invaluable in the upcoming playoff tournaments.
The Corban series was a tough one offensively for the T-Birds, but senior second baseman
Matt Spillman continued to find a way to reach base, especially via the walk, and he leads the squad with a .430 on-base percentage.
Bruce Yari has taken over the team hitting lead with a .339 average, .457 slugging percentage and 23 RBIs. And
Kevin Biro is still right up there with a .331 average and 22 RBIs.
The Redhawks are led offensively by Ryan Lombardi, who hits .329 with a .429 slugging percentage and 13 RBIs. The rest of the lineup is under .250 and the team hits .201 overall, so the UBC pitching staff isn't likely to give him a lot of good pitches to hit. He's not the type of hitter to wait around for something right in the wheelhouse though, as he's walked just five times all season. But he's also shown some pretty impressive contact skills despite his free-swinging style, with just eight strikeouts in 30 games played.
On the mound, Garrett Greenshaw heads up the starting rotation with a 4.05 ERA and the team's lone win on the season. The ranks are a little thin after him, as the team sports a 9.18 ERA and .349 opponent batting average, so the pitcher-friendly confines of Thunderbird Park could end up being a welcome change of pace for the Redhawks.
