The Matchup
The UBC Thunderbirds men's baseball team (12-4, 2-1) are set to play their NAIA conference home opener a littler earlier than expected hosting the Corban College Warriors (8-13, 2-6) for a weekend series starting Friday, March 10th at Thunderbird Park.
The games were originally scheduled to take place in Salem, Oregon but inclement weather has pushed the series north of the border as the T-Birds will take to their own field for the first time this season.
The 'Birds are looking to keep their momentum from a successful trip to open the campaign against number one ranked Lewis-Clark State. After scoring a combined 27 runs in three games, UBC's bats remain the hottest in the conference averaging nearly seven RBI per game through 16 total games.
Last season the T-Birds and Warriors split their season series 4-4 with each team winning twice at home.
This weekend's series features a pair of double-headers starting Friday at 12:00 p.m. PT with the second-half first pitch at 2:45 p.m. PT. Saturday's start times are set for 11:00 a.m. PT and 1:45 p.m. PT, all at Thunderbird Park.
Â
Last Action
The T-Birds earned the series win over number one ranked Lewis-Clark State with 6-3 (extra innings) and 20-14 victories with a 3-1 loss sandwiched in between. The series rubber match scheduled for Sunday, February 26th was canceled.
The Warriors' lone win in a four-game series on the road against College of Idaho last weekend came via a 5-0 shut out Friday in the second half of a double-header. The first game of the series saw Corban drop a 1-0 decision while the Warriors fell 11-4 and 13-5 on Saturday.
Â
By the Numbers
.324 – UBC leads the conference with an overall batting average of .324 through 16 games while also leading in hits per game with 10.44
3.27 – While the T-Birds have been enjoying a red-hot offence, UBC's pitching staff is also getting the job done with a conference best 3.27 ERA through 16 games overall.                Â
Â
Players to Watch
Mitch Robinson (#19, 3B) – The third-year third baseman boasts a .422 average through 12 games overall, good for second best in the conference. The Surrey native went 5-for-11 with three RBI and a pair of runs in UBC's recent series against Lewis-Clark. Â
Connor Noble (#35, P) – In four starts overall this season the fourth-year pitcher has an incredible 0.43 ERA. In his last start on February 24
th against Lewis-Clark, Noble went six innings with only two hits and no runs with five strikeouts.
Â
Coach's Take
After spending plenty of time off campus, UBC head coach
Chris Pritchett is looking forward to finally getting a home series in this weekend.
"We've been on the road most of February but it actually fits in nicely for the flow of the season, but the guys are certainly looking forward to putting on those white uniforms and playing a home game," said Pritchett.
"The challenge is to keep timing and rhythm and flow because we had some good momentum after that (Lewis-Clark State) series and then we got snowed out last week so it's tough to keep guys in that flow especially with the hitters' timing, but we're doing our best this week in practice and I expect us to fall back into a rhythm this weekend."
Since it's still early in the season Pritchett is still very much evaluating what his squad will be able to bring to the table.
"We haven't played a ton of games so we're still trying to find out what exactly our strengths and weaknesses are because it's early," said Pritchett who is in his second season at the helm.
"We've definitely shown an ability to grind out more at bats and put more pressure on teams offensively which will take pressure off our young pitchers. This is a group that works well together and keeps improving and it's a fun group to be a part of from a coaching standpoint and I'm excited to see where this ends up this year."
Â
