After 20 road or neutral site games across seven weeks to begin their 2025 campaign, the UBC Thunderbirds (11-9, 6-6) are ready to finally get their first homestand underway against the Carroll College Fighting Saints (11-12, 7-5).

The first of the pair of doubleheaders is scheduled for Friday, March 28th, with another pair of games the following day on Saturday, March 29th, on Collings Field at Nobel Park.

"We are very excited to play at home this weekend in front of friends, family and fans," said Thunderbirds head coach Jennifer McKellar. "It will be a nice change of pace to be the home team and the advantages that it has both in game and in the prep leading up."

The T-Birds have certainly been battle-tested so far this season, as in addition to playing all their Cascade Collegiate Conference games on the road to this point, they're also coming off back-to-back series against Eastern Oregon and College of Idaho, two teams in the top 20 of the NAIA national rankings. UBC did pull off a big 10-3 win in the second game of their series last weekend against the Yotes, but lost both of those two series overall after a 5-1 start to conference play.

"One of the best parts of our conference is how competitive it is, including four top 25 teams," added McKellar. "We have learned a lot about ourselves in the first half of the year and put together some good games but are far from satisfied...we know our strengths and will continue to work together to compete in every game and inning, one pitch at a time. I think our best softball is yet to come."
 

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Third-year pitcher Carleen Murray has been a standout performer on the mound to this point, as despite just a 5-6 record on the year she's fourth in the CCC in ERA (1.91). Murray also ranks third in the conference in strikeouts (74), while fellow starting pitcher Shae Sever is fifth (55) in that category.

"Our pitching and catching has been the centre of our defense and is something we take pride in," remarked McKellar. "Shae and Carleen have both had strong starts but I know they are both pushing for more. With that said, it has been a team effort to be defensively sound and that has been through senior players as well as underclassmen."

Sever has been a true dual threat, as the Richmond native also leads the team in batting average (.393) so far in conference play, and is tied with Kaitlyn Eng for the team-lead in RBIs (six) in CCC action. Keona Nordquist and Marin Jorgenson have also been good at the plate through the first couple months of the season, with Nordquist owning the somewhat dubious distinction of having been hit by a pitch four times, tied for second-most among all CCC players.

The Fighting Saints have had the opposite pattern of conference play so far this season, falling into a 2-4 hole to begin before now winning five of their last six CCC games. They're led at the plate by Kenna Thomas, who's hit .386 in 19 games overall this season with nine extra-base hits, including three home runs. As a whole the team has averaged 6.5 runs a game in conference action, compared to 3.2 for the T-Birds.

Pitching has been more of a struggle at times, however, with Carroll College also allowing 6.5 runs a game, compared to just 3.0 for UBC. This weekend's action should thus provide an interesting clash of styles, with the Thunderbirds aiming to pull out what would be their third series win of the season.

Friday's games are scheduled to start at 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. (PT), while the second doubleheader on Saturday features games at 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. (PT).