VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds (18-16, 13-11) have the chance to make some program history this weekend, as they face off against the Corban Warriors (4-37, 2-22) in the final four games of the Cascade Collegiate Conference regular season.
Currently sitting fifth in the CCC standings, the T-Birds can potentially rise to fourth if results both on their own diamond and elsewhere go in their favour. The program has never finished top four in the CCC regular season, coming close before with multiple fifth place finishes – including both of the first two years under head coach
Jennifer McKellar.
The Thunderbirds have some wind under their sails as they head towards playoffs, coming off a busy road weekend where they won five games in three days.
"I think this past weekend gave us a ton of momentum," said McKellar. "Our athletes are super resilient on the road...the girls were motivated, came together and worked super hard, and we're proud of the results they were able to accomplish."
In addition to the postseason implications, this weekend's games also have the distinction of being the final home games of the season for the T-Birds. That means Saturday's doubleheader features the last appearances at Collings Field for this year's senior class, a big group that has certainly more than made their impact on the program. The eight players consist of infielders
Kaitlyn Kim and
Keona Nordquist, outfielders
Kaitlyn Eng and
Madison MacGillivray, pitchers
Lindsay Bell,
Shae Sever and
Riley Woodward, and catcher
Catrina Hedin.
"This class is very special to us as they were a young age group when we got here as a coaching staff," reflected McKellar. "They've invested so much into moving the program forward and have been leaders from the get-go. It will be a very bittersweet celebration as we will be proud of them and very excited for their futures, but we will miss them all tremendously."
The T-Birds' pitching and defence have certainly been in form as of late, allowing a total of 11 runs over their last seven games. Sever has been a workhorse on the mound, pitching 35.1 innings over the last two weeks, more than half of UBC's total innings played during that stretch. She's allowed just one run in her last 18 innings pitched.
Carleen Murray also made her return to the lineup after a brief absence, starting two of the five games last weekend. She didn't show any rust, throwing a complete game in both while allowing just five hits and two earned runs over 12 innings of work.
At the plate, Sever owns the second-best on-base percentage in the CCC (.523), and has a seven-game hit streak. Nordquist currently sports a 10-game hit streak, with a .528 batting average and eight runs scored over that hot streak. She also made history last Thursday, breaking the UBC program record for most career hits.
The Thunderbirds are playing a Corban team that has struggled this season. The Warriors have just four wins on the year, although three of them have come in the last three weeks including a massive upset over Southern Oregon, the No. 1 team in the entire NAIA.
Peyton Foreman is the top batter for Corban, leading the team in batting average (.308), RBI (19) and extra base hits (10). The T-Birds have won eight of their last nine meetings with the Warriors, a reversal of previous years where at one point Corban won seven in a row.
"It's super important," mused McKellar, on the importance of going into the playoffs on a high. "We want to go into the postseason playing our best softball. It's never mattered to use who we're playing against, but that we're playing our game...we're excited to have four more games to make sure we're performing at our best and fine-tuning anything along the way to help us prepare for the postseason."
This weekend's games happen at 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. (PT) on Friday, April 25th, and at 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. (PT) on Saturday, April 26th, on Collings Field at Nobel Park. The Senior Day celebrations will take place at the conclusion of the final game of the series.
