VANCOUVER – In their first Cascade Collegiate Conference games in nearly two years, the UBC Thunderbirds earned an opening day split against the No. 5 ranked Southern Oregon Raiders in Ashland, Oregon Friday afternoon.

On the strength of a strong performance from sophomore pitcher Shelby Kempel, the T-Birds (1-3, 1-1) held off a late SOU (11-4, 1-1) surge for an 8-6 victory in the first half of the double dip, but the home side bounced back in game two scoring the final nine runs in a 9-1 decision.

Nicole Salas led the 'Birds with a combined three RBI going 3-for-6 at the plate over the two games as UBC out-hit the Raiders 19-17 on the afternoon.



The conference season opener saw Southern Oregon open scoring with a two-run Riley Donovan homer in the bottom of the first, but the aforementioned pitching prowess of Kempel ensured the Raiders wouldn't score again until the sixth.

A Salas two-RBI single in the third gave the T-Birds the lead which they broke wide open in the sixth with five more runs.

SOU's Phelicity Fa'aita drove in three with a home run in the bottom of the sixth and the Raiders added one more in the seventh, but Kempel struck out her final two batters, finishing the game with four total strike outs allowing five earned runs on just five hits.



The second game Friday was a reversal of fortunes as the T-Birds scored in the first on a Salas single that drove home Avery Hilper.

But the rest of the game belonged to SOU who staked out a 4-1 lead by the end of the opening frame, never looking back.

The rubber match is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. PT Saturday followed by a non-conference battle immediately afterwards as the T-Birds look to start the conference season with a key series victory.