VANCOUVER – For just the second series this season, the UBC Thunderbirds take to the field at Tourmaline West Stadium as they host the College of Idaho 'Yotes for a four-game set to officially open up Cascade Collegiate Conference play, starting Friday, March 18.
The T-Birds (12-13) head into the conference opener undefeated at home after sweeping the Bushnell Beacons two weeks ago and are coming off a four-game series split against Oregon Tech on the road.
While UBC and C of I (12-15) are familiar opponents historically, it's been nearly three full years since they've faced each other, leading to plenty of unknowns come first pitch Friday night.
"They're an exceptional team at exploiting any weakness, they're tremendous baserunners and it looks like they're scoring a lot of runs," said UBC Head Coach Chris Pritchett. "You look at their stats, they are pretty similar (to us) so I expect it to be a very competitive weekend. Things are sort of returning to normal and that's really exciting for our guys to feel like they're just not worrying about anything other than baseball so that's what we're looking forward to as well this weekend."
It's been 35 months since the two Cascade Conference rivals met, and it's been a full four years since the 'Yotes have notched a win against the T-Birds with UBC boasting a 14-game win streak.
That stretch doesn't matter much heading into this weekend, however, especially given the only current T-Bird wearing the blue and gold back in the spring of 2018, the last time C of I won a game against UBC, is Nolan Weger.
"I think we're still trying to figure out expectations because we have such a blend of young players that have no experience and then some veteran guys," explained Pritchett. "But I've seen some really good signs, I really like where I believe this team is going to be in April and I think we're pretty close. Every time we go play it's kind of exciting to see how much this group has started to gel and move forward. I think all the pieces are there, I absolutely love going to the park with these guys and I know they're going to be excited to be at home tomorrow night."
Given the inexperience throughout UBC's lineup, Pritchett and the rest of the coaching staff are relying on their small group of veterans to help guide the way, and there's no doubt they have been delivering.
Sophomore infielder Ty Penner has been simply tremendous at the plate for the 'Birds, boasting a .407 average this season, the fourth highest in the conference. Just last weekend, Penner had seven hits and eight RBI in the first three games of UBC's series at Oregon Tech.
Fellow second-year Mike Fitzsimmons is second on the 'Birds with 22 RBI on the year while veteran catcher Noah Or has an impressive 33 hits and a .359 average.
"There's no doubt there's a number of guys that have been here a while and have sort of been counted on to carry the group. It's also given some of the young pitchers a lot of confidence that they can go out and have a rough inning or two but we have the ability to come back and I think that keeps them really engaged and focussed. I think when all this gets put together, if the young pitchers can get a little more experience and confidence, when you put that group together with the veteran position players we have a real chance to make a run at things."
First pitch Friday night is set for 6:00 p.m. PT at Tourmaline West Field. Saturday's doubleheader begins at 1:00 p.m. PT with Sunday's series finale scheduled for 11:00 a.m. PT.
Tickets are available for free but must be reserved in advance.
