Thunderbirds left-handed hitting slugger Jessica Heutink seen swinging at a pitch from up the first base line, a grimace on her face as she is about to make contact with the ball on an upper cut swing
Jacob Mallari/UBC Thunderbirds
4
Winner Southern Oregon SOU 37-4
2
British Columbia UBC 13-15
Winner
Southern Oregon SOU
37-4
4
Final
2
British Columbia UBC
13-15
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Southern Oregon SOU 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 4 12 0
British Columbia UBC 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 6 1

W: A. Davies (22-2) L: Sever, Shae (7-7)

3
Winner Southern Oregon SOU 38-4
2
British Columbia UBC 13-16
Winner
Southern Oregon SOU
38-4
3
Final
2
British Columbia UBC
13-16
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Southern Oregon SOU 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 3 6 1
British Columbia UBC 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 6 1

W: K. Kila (6-1) L: Woodward, Riley (1-2) S: A. Davies (6)

Game Recap: Softball | | Jake McGrail (UBC Communications)

T-Birds come up just short against Raiders

VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds (13-16, 8-11) pushed the Southern Oregon Raiders (38-4, 19-2) hard in their second doubleheader of the weekend, coming close to pulling the upset on both occasions.

The first game of the day went to extra innings, while the second came down to the final at-bat. UBC took an early lead in both games as well, fulfilling head coach Jennifer McKellar's goal of putting the pressure on the visitors from the jump.

"I think our pitchers and catchers were phenomenal," said McKellar. "They kept us in it and gave us a chance to win and then some. We had two really good starts and just weren't able to push them across late in the game, but to have two really close games against that team, we're happy to take that away and build off of that."

Thunderbirds pitcher Riley Woodward delivering a pitch directly at the camera, Woodward appearing the smile behind her pitcher's mask, the ball out of focus in the foreground coming right toward the lens

Shae Sever and Riley Woodward each pitched eight innings on the day, allowing just four earned runs between them. Woodward pitched a complete game in the second half of the doubleheader, more than doubling her previous season-high in innings pitched. Ayla Davies and Kennedy Kila earned the wins on the mound for the Raiders.

At the plate, Sever and Kila both launched home runs in the first game of the day to account for four of the six total runs. Keona Nordquist added to a now five-game hit streak (a season-best for her) with three hits and two runs scored between the two games. Sarah Kerling tallied three hits and two RBI for the visitors. 


GAME ONE

After Nordquist led off the first game with a single, Sever put the Thunderbirds in front with a powerful no-doubt homer to right-centre, her seventh deep shot of the season. The blue and gold played from the front for most of the game, as Sever's pitching combined with strong defence behind her kept the potent Raiders off the scoreboard. 

Shae Sever seen from the side swinging at a pitch, her eyes wide, the pitch high and near the letters of her uniform, her bat path appearing on track to hit it perfectly

Some of the defensive highlights included catcher Kennedy Laird hitting the deck for a sprawling pop-up catch in the fourth, and Kaitlyn Eng making a grab right near the fence on a near-home run from Kila in the fifth. Laird almost hit a homer of her own in the bottom half of the fifth, but it was caught right at the left field fence.

Not in the mood to be shut out, the Raiders applied pressure in the sixth inning, loading the bases with just one out. They capitalized on a couple of bobbled ground balls to tie the game, and eventually sent it into extra innings.

The visitors broke through for their first lead of the day in the top of the ninth, as after Ari Williams hit a leadoff double it was Kila who again launched a ball deep that this time had enough juice to clear the fence. That proved to be the difference, as the T-Birds fell 4-2.


GAME TWO

Once again, Nordquist scored the first run of the game in the first inning off the bat of Sever, this time an RBI single driven up the middle. After advancing a base on a wild pitch, Sever then came home after Kennedy Ainge hit an RBI single of her own to basically the same spot.

This time, Southern Oregon didn't wait too long to tie things up, scoring two runs of their own in the bottom half of the opening frame off the bat of Faith Moultrie.

The game was once again a defensive battle from there, with both sides putting the clamps on the other. The decisive play came in the top of the fifth, when the Raiders took the lead for good with an RBI single from Kerling.

Jillian Matsubara seen from the side, with her arm cocked and striding forward as she prepares to make a throw from third base to first base

Some of the biggest highlights of the day continued to come on the defensive end, with SOU's Williams and UBC's Madison MacGillivray both making diving catches in the outfield in the late innings. Neither team was able to add another run, with the game ending 3-2 in favour of the road team.

Despite the losses, the Thunderbirds remain in sixth place and in the final playoff spot in the Cascade Collegiate Conference standings. Up three games over Warner Pacific with eight more CCC games to play, the T-Birds have a clear path in front of them as they fight to secure their place in the postseason.

"We control our own fate, and that's an exciting place to be," said McKellar. "If we do our job and keep working hard then it won't matter who we play."

Program builder of UBC Softball Rick O'Connor smiles and poses with his family after being recognized by the softball team following his induction into the UBC Sports Hall of Fame

In between the two games at Collings Field, the Thunderbirds honoured 2025 UBC Sports Hall of Fame inductee Rick O'Connor, who led the effort to found the UBC Softball program in 2008 and has fought tirelessly since then to ensure the team has the support it needs. He was joined on the field by family, friends, and both current and former UBC Softball players.

O'Connor is the first Thunderbird to be inducted into the hall for contributions made to the softball program.

Current UBC Thunderbirds softball players and alumni pose on Collings Field with coaches past and present for a group photo as the team held an alumni event
 

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