VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds (2-6) return home to Tourmaline West Stadium this weekend for a four-game series with the Eastern Oregon Mountaineers (2-6). Saturday, April 2^nd will see the weekend's first double-header begin at 1:00 p.m. (PT), with the second game following at 4:00 p.m. (PT). The teams will return Sunday morning for a second pair of games scheduled for 11:00 a.m. (PT) and 2:00 p.m. (PT).
 
The T-Birds are coming off a lengthy trip to Lewiston, Idaho where they took on the Lewis-Clark State College Warriors in a four-game series. UBC dropped the opener after the Warriors scored six runs in the bottom of the ninth to secure the comeback victory. The home side brought that momentum into the rest of the series as their hot bats could not be stopped, taking the next three contests to complete the sweep. Second year Ty Penner continued his dominance at the plate in Idaho as he smashed two home runs in the series while his teammate Brandon Hupe also added a solo bomb.


 
UBC returns home looking to get back on track against an Eastern Oregon team who just recently snapped an eight-game losing streak by defeating the Bushnell Beacons. Slowing down the Mountaineers at the plate will be a key to success for the T-Birds, as the visitors have scored 24 runs in their recent two-game win streak.
 
"Every week our goal is to keep getting better," said UBC head coach Chris Pritchett explaining his teams focus heading into the weekend series. "We have a lot of young players especially pitching and every week they continue to get better so by the end of the year they feel very confident. I think our team plays the game the right way and so last weekends setbacks were rough but they never stopped so I think it's an opportunity, I think they know there's a bit more of a sense of urgency now when you get into April here that we have to start winning series. With that the practices have been more focused the guys have been locked in so again we're excited at the opportunity and just happy to have a chance to play for one but to play at home continues to be special for these guys after missing two years so you'll see a lot of energy and we'll be excited to get going."

The Mountaineers find success with extra base hits, as they lead the Cascade Collegiate Conference with 23 doubles. Junior catcher Matt Garcia leads his team with 32 hits alongside 29 RBI. Right handed pitchers Jayden Yancey and Davis Brown have racked up most of the innings on the mound as they have both eclipsed the 40 mark.
 


The T-Birds offence flows through the bat of Penner, who is attacking the ball like no other this season as his 10 doubles and 10 home runs have produced 36 RBI. On the mound, UBC fields a balanced rotation of four pitchers who have at least 30 or more innings under their belt. Ryan Beitel's 40 strikeouts leads the pack, but Shane Laforest's 35 punchouts are not far behind.
 
Reminder, tickets to each game this weekend are free but must be reserved in advance here.