VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds dropped a closely fought series opener against the host Corban University Warriors Friday night, falling 4-3 in Keizer, Oregon.

The T-Birds opened up a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning but were shut down the rest of the way thanks to a strong pitching performance from junior Nate Martin who held UBC to seven hits in eight innings while striking out seven.

After the Warriors tied the game in the bottom of the fifth, UBC sophomore Daniel Sereda came out to pitch the sixth and struck out his first three batters. Sereda struck out two more in the seventh but a sacrifice bunt by Elijah Maris scored the go-ahead, and eventual game winning, run.

Following three scoreless innings, the T-Birds burst out in the top of the fourth. Mike Fitzsimmons scored the game's first run on a Kyle Anderson RBI single. Mitchell Middlemiss was next up and promptly tripled to right centre, plating two more before Martin settled down and retired his next two batters to end the inning.



Corban got themselves on the board with a Roger Viloria solo home run in the bottom of the fourth.

Maris' first of two RBIs on the night got the Warriors within a run in the fifth and Brad Pellkofer followed up with base hit to tie the game.

Sereda was tagged with the loss despite a very strong two innings of work following up on a solid start by Brett Corbeth who allowed three earned runs on seven hits with three strikeouts in five innings. Middlemiss and Trent Lenihan both had multi-hit efforts.

The T-Birds will look to get back in the win column as they return to Volcanoes Stadium Saturday for a doubleheader against the Warriors. First pitch for game one is set for 12:00 p.m. PT.