The Matchup
Having wrapped up a two-week trip of California, the UBC Thunderbirds (5-8, 0-0) kick off the NAIA West Grouping regular season with a four game series against the College of Idaho Yotes (6-9, 0-0) in Caldwell starting Friday, February 23 at Wolfe Field.
It's the first of three straight road series to begin conference play for the 'Birds who are set to christen the new Thunderbird Park in late March.
It's the first meeting between the two rivals since the Yotes ended UBC's season in the final game of the 2017 West Grouping Championships. Last season, the 'Birds posted a 6-2 regular season record against C of I including a 3-1 mark in Caldwell.
The 'Birds kickoff a doubleheader Friday at 11 a.m. PT in Caldwell. First pitch Saturday is scheduled for 1 p.m. PT with Sunday's series finale starting at 1 p.m. PT.
Last Action
The 'Birds closed out their Golden State trip with a 9-6 win over Westmont College Tuesday afternoon.
Braeden Allemann hit a two-run homer that kickstarted the five run sixth inning while
Anthony Cusati finished 3-for-5.
The Yotes split a weekend series at home with Montana State Billings. C of I earned a 13-12 win in game one with a walk off RBI single in the bottom of the 10
th. The Yotes dropped the second half of the doubleheader, 9-2.
By the Numbers
9.17 – The average number of hits per game by the T-Birds through 12 games of non-conference play. The Yotes meanwhile, have averaged 8.33.
8.08 – UBC's pitching staff has averaged 8.08 strikeouts per game, the highest total in the West Grouping.
Players to Watch
Niall Windeler (#49, SP) – Through four starts this season, Windeler leads the conference in strikeouts per game with a whopping 11.49. Now in his second season with the 'Birds, the Toronto native will be UBC's ace on the mound coming off an impressive 2.94 ERA in his rookie season.
Mitch Robinson (#44, 3B/OF) – Back for his final season with the 'Birds,
Mitch Robinson has been off to another strong start batting .333 with 13 RBI in 11 non-conference games. Last year the Surrey native led UBC with a .383 average and a .548 slugging percentage.
Coach's Take
After facing some strong competition over the past two weeks, UBC head coach
Chris Pritchett says his team is excited and ready to begin conference play.
"I think we're swinging the bats pretty well, the pitching's starting to come along," said Pritchett now into his third season with the 'Birds. "We need to tighten up defensively, we know that there's some more small ball that comes into play that teams down in California don't play as much. It's not going to be easy, it looks like it's going to be a very balanced conference, there's going to be no easy weekends and it's always tough to play in Caldwell."
Along with Robinson, the 'Birds have five other senior position players returning whereas UBC's pitching staff is set to be led by a crop of mostly second-year starters in
Niall Windeler,
Adam McKillican, and
James Bradwell.
"Since I've been here it's been dominated by senior pitchers that are experienced and now we're seeing that on the position side whereas the pitchers are still making their way through," said Pritchett who also has some veteran presence in fourth-year starter
Brad Smith who looked solid in his last two outings. "Niall was probably our ace by the end of last season and he's been solid in his first two starts. There's really good upside with both McKillican and Bradwell as well and hopefully they can continue their development."
