VANCOUVER – The NAIA No.23-ranked UBC Thunderbirds (16-11, 1-3) play their first home conference series of the season this weekend when they host the Corban University Warriors (6-19, 1-3) for a pair of doubleheaders at Tourmaline West Stadium. Saturday's doubleheader begins at 1:00 p.m. (PT), Sunday's at 11:00 a.m. (PT), with the games scheduled to start three hours apart.

Though the T-Birds have been playing regularly since early February, last weekend's four-game series against the Oregon Tech Owl was UBC's first official Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) series of the year. The four games did not go as the 'Birds would have hoped, as, after winning the opener 13-3, the blue and gold dropped the next three in close fashion, including being walked off in both halves of Sunday's doubleheader.



"I think a lot of players aren't quite performing how they're capable of right now," reflected UBC head coach Chris Pritchett. "Our team as a whole is still trying to put some things together. I really like this group, but we're capable of more, this team has a chance to be special. I think it's time to take a step forward here in the next week or so to make sure that we really put ourselves in a good position to get into the post-season."

Despite the team playing upwards of 50 games overall, the true CCC schedule, which determines who makes the playoffs, is just six weekends long, meaning UBC will be one third of the way through after the upcoming series with Corban. Coming off of a conference championship last year, Pritchett has high expectations for this year's team, but knows they will have to make up for the season-opening losses quickly to put themselves in a strong position to repeat.

"I've always liked our team and like our chances," said the former major league first baseman and ninth-year UBC coach. "The conference is a quick sprint. I don't think we've come close to our ceiling yet, we're still improving, but I think it's getting to the point now that it's over halfway that we really need to figure things out, push on the gas pedal and take it to where to where we need to be because it's going to be over before we know it. Our goals are to be in the top 25 and in the fight for a national championship."



Adding to the immediate challenge for the T-Birds is the fact that a pair of regulars are expected to miss this weekend's series with injuries.

"A couple of guys are going to have chances to step up and fill some gaps," noted Pritchett. "It's important to test our depth, you're not going to have everyone available every single week. We're missing one of our starting pitchers, our starting catcher is also down, so some younger guys are going to have a chance to fill those spots. We're confident that they can do it."

The 'Birds' opponent this weekend, the Corban Warriors, are also coming off of a 1-3 start in conference play, but under different circumstances. The Warriors are getting the toughest part of their season out of the way against their only two currently nationally-ranked opponents, taking one game off of NAIA No.7-ranked Lewis-Clark State College (Idaho) at home last weekend before visiting Vancouver. Last season, Corban did not qualify for the CCC playoffs and lost six of their eight games against UBC, including three of four conference games.



"There are a lot of names on this Corban team that we recognize from last year," concluded Pritchett. "They have some guys who can really swing it, they can defend a little bit, and they really run the bases well, so we're really going to have to look at holding them tight on the bases and shutting down that part of their game. I don't think they quite have the pitching depth that we do, so our ability to work their pitchers and get deep into their bullpen will be key to taking the series."

Admission to all Thunderbirds games at Tourmaline West Stadium this year is free and tickets are not required. All home games are also being streamed live.