VANCOUVER – The UBC softball team will make its long-awaited home debut this weekend at Softball City. The Thunderbirds (6-3, 3-0 Cascade Collegiate Conference) will host the Eastern Oregon Mountaineers (2-16, 1-5 CCC) in a pair of doubleheaders Friday (1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.) and Saturday (11 a.m. and 1 p.m.). The series finale on Saturday is a non-conference contest.

UBC and EOU played five times last season, with the T-Birds winning two of three conference games. In the Cascade Collegiate Conference championship tournament, UBC won the first matchup before the Mountaineers returned the favour en route to the final.

Last Action

The T-Birds opened conference play by sweeping all three road games at Northwest (Wash.) last weekend in Bellevue, Wash. UBC won 12-9 in eight innings on Friday night, before taking both ends of Saturday's doubleheader, 5-2 and 9-0.

EOU lost all four games in Salem, Ore., last weekend to No. 16-ranked Corban. Friday's scores were: 12-1 and 1-0. Saturday's results were: 13-2 and 5-1.

Players to Watch

Shelby Kempel (#17, P/OF) – The rookie pitcher had a tremendous first weekend of conference play picking up all three wins for the Thunderbirds against Northwest.

After earning her first conference win in a 12-9 UBC win last Friday, Kempel pitched the final three innings in the first half of Saturday's doubleheader, allowing no earned runs and just two hits in a 5-2 UBC win. The Waterloo, Ont., native then pitched a complete game shutout in the second game Saturday allowing just three hits in a 9-0 UBC win.
 

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@clifbar's Athlete of the Week: @ubcsoftball's Shelby Kempel! The rookie pitcher had a tremendous first weekend of NAIA conference play picking up all three wins for the Thunderbirds who earned the series sweep over the Northwest University Eagles. After earning her first conference win in a 12-9 UBC win last Friday, Kempel pitched the final three innings in the first half of Saturday's doubleheader, allowing no earned runs and just two hits in a 5-2 UBC win. The Waterloo, Ontario native then pitched a complete game shutout in the second game Saturday allowing just three hits in a 9-0 UBC win. Kempel sits fifth in the entire conference with a 1.84 ERA.

A post shared by UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) on Mar 14, 2019 at 11:29am PDT

Cassa Courtney (#18, OF) – A transfer from Douglas College, Courtney was one of many offensive stars for the Thunderbirds last weekend. Courtney had five hits in 13 at-bats in three games last weekend, driving in six runs. Those five hits included a home run and a triple. She also scored four runs.

Coach's Take

The Thunderbirds are looking to continue the momentum from last weekend's road sweep.

"I am pleased with our start to the season," said UBC head coach Gord Collings. "We have hit the ball well and our pitching has improved each week. We have demonstrated resilience and that we have depth in n each position."

One of the CCC's traditional powers, Eastern Oregon will provide an excellent test for UBC. 

"EOU has a good program and I believe their record so far is not indicative of the strength of their team, said Collings. "They were a finalist in our conference championships last year and have a number of quality players returning this year. They can't be taken lightly and we need to be ready to play this weekend."

Eastern Oregon has played a tough schedule to start 2019, going 1-7 on the road against No. 3 Southern Oregon and No. 16 Corban (Ore.) to start the CCC slate. The Mountaineers also went 1-3 against Simpson (Calif.), a team that received votes in the NAIA Top 25 poll, and 0-4 against NCAA Div. 2 competition at the Concordia (Ore.) tournament in Portland.