VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds baseball team opened its home slate in fine fashion, sweeping a three-game non-conference series against the Concordia (Ore.) Cavaliers this weekend at Tourmaline West Stadium.
 
UBC beat the NCAA Div. 2 team by scores of 3-0 and 7-5, in 12 innings, Saturday before the T-Birds completed the sweep with a 10-8 triumph Sunday in the finale.
 
"I think on Day 1, with the doubleheader, our pitchers really came out and set the tone, throwing strikes. They gave us a chance early to get some runs and get ahead, so our hitters did a good job too. All in all, the team played good defence on Day 1," said UBC assistant coach Sammie Starr.
 
"Jaxon Valcke and Noah Or really set the tone for us offensively, they had numerous good at-bats throughout the weekend. Mike Fitzsimmons at the top of the lineup did a great job."
 

In the series opener, rookie pitchers Garrett Hawkins and reliever Daniel Sereda combined for a two-hit shutout.
 
Hawkins went five innings and recorded three strikeouts on 88 pitches for his first career win. Sereda earned the first save of his university career by throwing four innings without giving up a hit.
 
Jaxon Valcke drove in a pair of runs, with the first coming on a fifth-inning single to centre field, which turned out to be all the offence UBC would need.
 
The second came on an RBI double to centre in the seventh inning that made it 3-0 right after rookie Ben Mitchell plated fellow first-year player Mike Fitzsimmons with a single to centre to give the hosts a 2-0 edge.
 
Valcke had more offensive heroics in Game 2 on Saturday, hitting a game-winning 12-inning, two-run home run over the fence in right-centre for a 7-5 win. He had four RBIs in the game, one in the first inning, and another in the third.
 

What an ending! The walk-off HR by @jaxvalcke ??????#ubcbaseball #gobirdsgo pic.twitter.com/dZO7F000B0

— UBC Baseball (@ubc_baseball) February 24, 2019

Mitchell's double down the left field line in the fifth inning scored both Fitzsimmons and Brett Corbeth to put UBC up 5-1.
 
A big four-run eighth inning for Concordia evened the scoreline.
 
Noah Or had four hits in the game, while Valcke and Austen Butler had three each.
 
Pitcher Barry Caine was impressive in picking up the victory to improve to 2-0. He threw 4.2 shutout innings in relief of Niall Windeler, who struck out 11 batters in 7.1 innings.
 

Or led the way offensively for UBC in Sunday's matchup, recording three RBIs on four hits, while rookie Ty Penner had three hits.
 
The Thunderbirds were down 4-1 entering the home half of the fifth, with Or's RBI single up the middle in the third providing the only offence. 
 
UBC turned things around by posting four runs in the fifth, starting with the first career home run – a solo shot – for Fitzsimmons.

Penner later plated Or to make it 4-3. With the bases loaded, senior Zach Prisciak reached base on catcher interference allowing Valcke to come home. The batter, Nolan Weger, then walked to bring home another run to give UBC a 5-4 lead.
 
A Concordia run levelled the scoreline in the top of the seventh before the Thunderbirds replied with another four-run inning.
 
UBC loaded the bases in the home half of the seven, and Brandon Hupe was hit by a pitch to force a run across. Two batters later, Fitzsimmons drew a bases-loaded walk to increase the T-Birds' lead to 7-5. Later in the inning, Or delivered the decisive blow, a two-RBI single to right field that made it 9-5.
 
Concordia drew closer with a two-run home run in the eighth, before Jordan Dray doubled down the right-field line to score Penner, and close out the offensive output for the day.
 
Reliever Jared Spearing earned his first win as a T-Bird by giving up just a lone run in three innings. James Bradwell picked up the first save of his career.
 
UBC (5-8) will open NAIA West Grouping play next weekend with a four-game series at home against the Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) Warriors, the fifth-ranked team in the NAIA. The series starts Friday night at Tourmaline West Stadium, with the first pitch slated for 6 p.m.