Need to Know

The UBC Thunderbirds baseball team (23-12, 9-6) are coming off a dominant weekend against the Oregon Tech Hustlin' Owls, and will look to carry that momentum into this week's series with the Simpson Redhawks (3-29, 1-8).
 
With all four games taking place at Thunderbird Park, the two sides will square off in a pair of doubleheaders on Saturday, April 2, and Sunday, April 3. Saturday's two-game set will get underway at 12:00 p.m. (PT), while Saturday's pair of contests will start at 11:00 a.m. (PT).
 

Last Week

The 'Birds got phenomenal pitching throughout their series against the Owls, as they earned a come-from-behind 2-1 win, as well as a pair of blowout decisions by 11-1 and 7-0 margins.
 

By The Numbers

0.55 – Tyler Gillies' (London, Ont.) ERA mark of 0.55 is lower than any other NAIA West pitcher with at least 10 innings of action this year.
 
17 – The 'Birds won their past two games by a combined 17 runs, more than any other two-game margin of victory from the past two seasons. The closest they came were back-to-back 13-0 and 3-0 wins against Chapman and Redlands last February.
 

The Matchup

This will be the Thunderbirds' second four-game set against Simpson this season, as they swept the Redhawks in their previous series in Redding, Calif. In fact, the 'Birds haven't dropped a contest against Simpson in three years, with the last being a 7-5 loss on March 30, 2013.
 
Since then, UBC has gone 15-0 against Simpson, racking up 120 runs to just 32 for the Redhawks – meaning UBC has beaten Simpson by an average score of 8-2 over that stretch. 
 
The struggles of this year's Simpson squad can be found in their pitching – accounting for the seven Redhawks hurlers who have made at least three appearances in conference play, Simpson is averaging an ERA of 8.34. By the same measuring cut-off, UBC's pitchers are pulling down an ERA of 1.63.
 

Coach's Take

"Obviously, we've already played them, so we know a bit of what to expect," stated UBC head coach Chris Pritchett. "The thing is, although we've already won four games against them this year, there were definitely a few tight moments, so we definitely won't be taking them lightly. At this point of the year, I think we have too many things to work on, especially offensively, to alter our mindsets too much when it comes to the opponent. Right now, we're just focusing on what we have to do to improve each and every week."