EUGENE, Ore. – The UBC Thunderbirds dropped their Cascade Collegiate Conference softball series finale at Northwest Christian (Ore.) by a score of 10-4 on Monday in Eugene, Ore. The Beacons claimed the series victory after the teams split on Sunday.
 
Senior outfielder Claire Eccles led UBC (9-11, 6-6 CCC) with a pair of hits, while Douglas College transfers Cassa Courtney and Jordan Britten-Yung, both juniors, drove in a pair of runs each.

Sophomore Noel Balderston did the heavy lifting for the home team, going 3-for-3 with a double, five RBI and two runs. Freshman Jordan Kuykendall was also 3-for-4 and added two stolen bases.
 
Emma Jegtvig picked up her fifth win in the circle (5-8) allowing three runs in 4.2 innings. Sabrina Guerra came in and held on for the final 2.1 innings to pick up her first career save.
 
Britten-Yung's single to left field in the first inning scored Mia Valcke to give the Thunderbirds a 1-0 lead.
 
NCU answered with a four-run bottom half of the first to set the tone for the afternoon. Balderston got things rolling with an RBI single, with two runs coming in on the play after a fielding error. Balderston scored herself on Jegtvig's RBI single down the right-field line, and Jegtvig later came home on a wild pitch.
 
The Beacons tacked on a run in the third and held a 5-1 lead into the fifth inning when UBC scored a pair of runs to force the pitching change. A pair of walks were followed by a two-out, two-run single from Courtney that plated Eccles and Avery Hilpert. After Britten-Yung reached on an error, Guerra came on in relief and claimed the third out to hold on to a 5-3 lead.
 
NCU quickly got back the two runs in the bottom of the fifth on RBI singles from Balderston and Guerra, and then in the bottom of the sixth came Balderston's final hit, a three-run double to left field.
 
UBC will host Providence (Mont.) this weekend at Softball City in Surrey, B.C. Friday's doubleheader is scheduled for 1:30 p.m., while the first pitch on Saturday is slated for 11 a.m.