Need to Know

The UBC Thunderbirds baseball team (19-7, 5-1 NAIA West) will host the NAIA's No. 1-ranked team, the Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) Warriors (14-1, 5-1 NAIAW) for a three-day, three-game set at Thunderbird Park this weekend.
 
The first game of the series goes Friday at 2 p.m., with Saturday's matchup at 1 p.m. The finale is set for Sunday at 11 a.m. Both teams are tied atop the NAIA West with 5-1 marks, all three games this weekend will count in the league standings.
 

Last Week

Both teams went 2-1 in games that counted in the NAIA West standings last weekend. UBC won 2-0 and 2-1 decisions against Corban (Ore.) on Saturday before dropping 1-0 game to the Warriors on Sunday. The non-conference matchup also favoured the visitors from Salem, Ore., who won 9-3.
 
Lewis-Clark State shut out College of Idaho 16-0 last Friday before splitting a doubleheader Saturday. L-C State won the first game 11-7 and College of Idaho rebounded with a 3-2 triumph to hand the Warriors their lone loss of the 2015-16 campaign. On Sunday, L-C State won 8-4.
 

By The Numbers

3 - UBC's top three starters, Alex Webb (Surrey, B.C.), Curtis Taylor (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) and Connor Noble (Vancouver), each gave up just three hits in their starts last weekend. Webb and Taylor threw complete-game victories while Noble was assessed the loss despite giving up just one run in eight complete innings.
 
7 - The Thunderbirds scored seven runs in four games last weekend and will look to improve on that stat this weekend.
 

The Matchup 

The 'Birds and Warriors played earlier this season at the LCSC Guardian Heating, Plumbing, and A/C tournament in Lewiston, Idaho back in early February. The T-Birds lost 5-1 to the hosts in a game that was tied 1-1 going into the home half of the fifth inning,
 
L-C State has a potent offence that averages more than eight runs a game, and excellent pitching, which features a team earned-run average of 2.49, 12th in the NAIA. They rank just behind UBC in that category as the Thunderbirds are ninth in the entire NAIA with a team ERA of 2.44. Blue and Gold pitchers have struck out 209 batters, second-best in the NAIA.
 
UBC's Bruce Yari (Waterloo, Ont.) leads the NAIA West Grouping with a .419 batting average, while L-C State's J. J. Robinson is tied for second at .407.
 
On the mound, the Thunderbirds have three starting pitchers, Webb, Taylor and Noble, with ERAs under 2.00, while the Warriors have two: Kevin Hamann and Matthew Fish.