PORTLAND, Ore. – The UBC Thunderbirds wrapped up their second consecutive road series win to start the Cascade Collegiate Conference season, a one-run loss sandwiched between a pair of wins Saturday against the host Warner Pacific Knights in Portland.

With darkness suspending the second half of Friday's doubleheader in the bottom of the third, the T-Birds (10-3, 5-1) returned to the field Saturday morning where they conceded just one run by the Knights (2-12, 1-5) in 20 combined innings of play.

The low-scoring series was highlighted by Carleen Murray's incredible performance on the mound in the opening game Friday in which the junior pitcher set a new conference record with 25 strikeouts in the 12-inning marathon, just one shy of the all-time NAIA record set by Brianna Tennyson of Judson (Ill.) back in 2013.

Despite 13 combined hits in the series opener, the T-Birds were prevented from crossing the plate until the top of the 12^th when a Kaitlyn Kim double scored Marin Jorgenson. Kennedy Laird followed up with another RBI single while Murray completed the shutout performance having allowed just two hits and two walks.

The lengthy game combined with a later start meant the two sides only got in 2.5 innings of the second half of Friday's doubleheader with UBC holding a 3-0 lead.



After the game resumed Saturday morning, the 'Birds picked up right where they left off en route to a dominant 6-0 performance.

Kaitlyn Eng added to the UBC lead with an RBI single in the top of the fourth while Kim and Shae Sever each drove in a run in the sixth.

Sever got the job done on the mound as well, pitching the complete game allowing just one hit with a season high 12 strikeouts for her fourth win.

The final game of the three-game conference series saw yet another pitchers' duel involving Murray who was tagged with the loss despite another strong performance that saw her allow just one earned run on two hits while racking up another six strikeouts as the 'Birds fell 1-0.

UBC's first conference loss of the season, the only run of the game came in the bottom of the fourth when Briana Munoz drove in Kili Makanni from second.

Closing out the weekend with another 1-0 game, this time the 'Birds found a way to be on the right side of things thanks to a combined effort on the mound and a fielding error by the Knights which allowed Madison MacGillivray to score in the top of the eighth.

After coming in with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Sever threw the rest of the game for UBC and struck out two of her final three batters to secure the win.

Sitting just one game behind Southern Oregon for top spot in the CCC, the T-Birds are back on the road next weekend where they'll face the No. 14 Eastern Oregon for a four-game series starting Friday, March 14 in La Grande.