The Matchup

Heading into the final weekend of the regular season, the UBC Thunderbirds (11-13, 14-21) are in the driver's seat for their push for the playoffs as they get set to host the Northwest Christian Beacons (6-18, 10-32) Friday and Saturday, April 27 and 28, at Softball City in Surrey.

The 'Birds have won three straight conference games and seven of their last nine to move into sole possession of the sixth and final Cascade Collegiate Conference championship berth. UBC is currently two games ahead of the College of Idaho and a single T-Bird win this weekend would clinch a spot in the tournament.



Northwest Christian has been eliminated from contention but would be more than happy to play spoiler for the Thunderbirds. UBC swept the Beacons in their most previous meeting at the end of last season.

First pitch for Friday's doubleheader is set for 1:30 p.m. PT with the conference series finale scheduled for 11:00 a.m. PT on Saturday. The two will play a non-conference game to wrap up the weekend at 1:00 p.m. PT Saturday, all at Softball City.
 

Last Action

The T-Birds swept their three-game conference series against the Northwest University Eagles last weekend before dropping the non-conference finale 6-5 in extra innings.
 

?? SB | @UBCSoftball takes game 1 over @northwestu by a 6-0 score! 2nd half of the doubleheader coming up #GoBirdsGo pic.twitter.com/xh7a4WKuh3

— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) April 20, 2018

Northwest Christian won their series over the College of Idaho taking two of three conference games as well as a non-conference battle. After a rough start to the season the Beacons have now won five of their last six games overall.
 

By the Numbers

1 – Solid pitching and fielding efforts last weekend held the Eagles to just a single run scored through all three conference games combined. UBC has outscored the opposition by a combined 24-12 margin over their last two home series.

7.49 – The average number of T-Bird hits per game.
 

Players to Watch

Claire Eccles (#21, OF) – The third-year outfielder leads the Thunderbirds with 26 RBI on the season and is working on a .319 batting average while averaging better than a hit per game. Last weekend alone the Surrey native went 5/11 with three RBI.



Zoe Gillis (#6, RHP) – Gillis picked up her fourth win of the season with a tremendous seven inning shutout performance against Northwest last Friday, her second complete game shutout of the season. The senior has lowered her ERA to 4.63 on the season.
 

Coach's Take

If the T-Birds pick up from where they left off last weekend, there's little doubt they will clinch a berth in next weekend's conference tournament. But UBC head coach Gord Collings knows they'll be facing a determined Beacons group.

"We have to be careful of them, they've got some good players, they're a solid team and we can't take them for granted that's for sure," said Collings. "If we can play our game and not let the game itself dictate the level of which we play I think we'll be fine. The girls showed last week they can play in close games, that they can compete effectively and come up with clutch hits so if we can do the same thing this weekend I think we'll be in good shape."



On Saturday the T-Birds will honour their five graduating seniors in Sydney Brown, Zoe Gillis, Frances Ramsay, Paige Harbord, and Mackenzie Siddall making for an emotional weekend as well.

"These are very special seniors, they've been with the team from when we were going through challenging times, they stuck in there and helped keep the program going," said Collings who is preparing for a bittersweet send-off. "It's going to be hard seeing them leave and move on, I just can't believe how the time has gone and how quickly they've gone through their four years of university. It's going to be an emotional day, there's no question about that."