Need to Know

After a poor showing in Oregon, the UBC Thunderbirds softball team (4-13, 4-6) will return home this weekend to face the Carroll (Mont.) Fighting Saints (13-13, 2-6) and Great Falls (Mont.) Argos (11-9, 5-5) in a pair of back-to-back doubleheaders at Surrey's Softball City.
 
With both teams coming up from Montana, the 'Birds will take on Carroll on Friday, April 1, with the two-game series set to start at 1:30 p.m. (PT). Great Falls will be the T-Birds' opponent on Saturday, April 2, as the two sides are set to start their doubleheader at 11 a.m.
 

Last Week

The 'Birds went winless on their Beaver State swing, falling 11-0 and 7-0 to the Oregon Tech Hustlin' Owls, and then 8-4 and 7-3 to the Southern Oregon Raiders.
 

By The Numbers

8 – Hillary Strelau (Richmond, B.C.) sits third in the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) with eight stolen bases. The shortstop/outfielder picks her spots, as her eight steals have come on only eight attempts.
 
9 – Shayla Kaplen (Richmond, B.C.) has been the engine of UBC's offence this season, and pitchers are taking notice. Kaplen has been walked nine times this season in conference play, tied for second in the CCC.
 

The Matchup

The last time the 'Birds faced either Carroll or Great Falls was last season, as all three clubs took part in the College of Idaho/NW Nazarene Softball Classic in February/March 2015. In their games against the two Montana-based teams, the T-Birds took down Great Falls 10-9 before beating Carroll 6-2.
 
This year's edition of the Argos is a middle-of-the-pack squad in CCC play, but their most recent result was an encouraging one, as they earned a hard-fought split with the vaunted Souther Oregon Raiders, losing 4-0 before claiming an 8-6 decision. Great Falls has been getting some excellent pitching from ace Keely van Blericom, who sits sixth in the CCC in both ERA, at just 2.81, and batters struck out, at 44.
 
As for the Fighting Saints, they come in off of a split with the Hustlin' Owls, dropping a tight 5-4 contest before rebounding with a 5-2 win in the second half of their doubleheader. The battle at the plate will be one of top-end talent vs. depth, as the 'Birds have just three players hitting at or above the .300 mark for batting average – Carroll has seven. However, among those 10 combined players, the 'Birds have the two highest averages in Kaplen's mark of .469 and Lindsey Ogilvie's (Surrey, B.C.) 0.377.
 

Coach's Take

"Really, we've got to just put last week behind us," said UBC head coach Gord Collings. "We have to re-focus, because we're playing two very good opponents this week, so we're going to have to do everything we can to get our pitching and batting going – ideally at the same time."