VANCOUVER – Almost exactly two months since their season began with a nonconference victory against Oklahoma Wesleyan in Mesquite, Texas, the UBC Thunderbirds (17-13, 7-5) are finally set to play their first games in Vancouver in 2026.
Their home opener was originally supposed to be two weeks ago against Oregon Tech, but weather concerns forced those games to instead be held at the Owls' field in Klamath Falls. Now, however, the T-Birds will welcome the College of Idaho Yotes (19-13, 5-7) in a pair of doubleheaders on Friday, April 3 and Saturday, April 4.
The Cascade Collegiate Conference regular season is now halfway done, with UBC currently sitting in fourth place in the CCC standings. The T-Birds have won three of the four conference series they've played in to this point, including last weekend against Simpson when the 'Birds dropped the first game against the Red Hawks before bouncing back with consecutive wins.
"I think we've really started to learn our process and been more committed to sticking to it in the wins and the losses…rather than getting too high or too low," reflected UBC head coach
Jennifer McKellar on the first half of conference play.
"We have a solid pitching staff and really great defence which keep us in ballgames, and we've come to understand that we're an offensive team one-through-nine and everyone plays a part. So, we're more of a station-to-station, pass-the-bat kind of offence, and if and when we stick to that we have good results."
This weekend's matchup certainly provides a stylistic clash, as the methodical, defence-first T-Birds take on the big-swinging Yotes. College of Idaho has averaged 6.4 runs per game in conference play (third in the CCC), but also has given up 7.1 runs per game (seventh).
The Thunderbirds, meanwhile, rank ninth in runs per game in conference play (2.33), not helped by the fact that two of their three highest-scoring games against CCC opponents (including 13 runs against Simpson last Saturday) came in the fourth and final game of their respective weekend series, which don't count towards the conference standings.
Defensively, however, the blue and gold have allowed just 2.1 runs on average in CCC action, the best mark in the conference.
Carleen Murray continues to dominate on the mound – leading all CCC players in both ERA (0.90) and strikeouts (128) on the season overall – while
Brynn Fortier and
Mila Anderson both sport an ERA of 3.00, putting Fortier at seventh in the CCC while Anderson hasn't pitched quite enough innings yet to qualify for the leaderboard.
The UBC pitching staff will have their hands full with the Yotes' batters, led by Madelyn Powell and Kina Watts who are No. 1 and No. 2 amongst CCC players in RBIs for the season overall, while also hitting a combined 14 home runs.
"Every weekend in the Cascade is a hard matchup," said McKellar with a laugh. "This is one of the tougher ones. We have two different styles of play, but our goal is to keep them off the bases as best we can and use our pitching staff to do that, and hopefully capitalize on some opportunities to score and then lock down the defence."
After being road warriors for the entire season to this point, the Thunderbirds will now play 12 of their final 16 games of the regular season at home, only needing to leave B.C. once in the entire month of April. That lack of travel and a more comfortable home routine will hopefully provide a boost for the T-Birds as they aim to solidify a top-four seed for the conference playoffs.
"I think it's refreshing to the girls, and grounding," added McKellar. "It adds a layer of excitement to get to end the regular season more at home than on the road, and I think they're feeling rejuvenated by that. Hopefully the weather cooperates and we can really make the most of that opportunity."
First pitch this Friday is set for 2:00 p.m., followed by a second game at 4:00 p.m. (all times PT). Saturday's games begin at 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. at Collings Field in Nobel Park. Tickets are not required to come out and watch the Thunderbirds in action, and you can also watch the games live and on-demand on the
Urban Edge Network.
