VANCOUVER – With just one week remaining before the playoffs begin, the UBC Thunderbirds (23-19, 12-9) play host to the Bushnell Beacons (6-31, 3-18) in their final regular season games of 2026.
 
It's also the final games of the year at Collings Field in Nobel Park, and the final career home games for this year's graduating senior class. Five Thunderbirds will be honoured on Saturday, April 25, following the first doubleheader of the series on Friday, April 24.
 
All five of the fourth-year T-Birds are from the Lower Mainland, and will aim to end their final home weekend on a high as UBC remains in a tight battle for playoff positioning – potentially finishing anywhere from third to fifth in the conference standings depending on how this weekend shakes out.
 

 
The longest-tenured Thunderbird on the roster is Casey Lo, the lone player remaining from the 2023 squad which was also McKellar's first season as head coach of the program. The Burnaby native has played in over 100 games for the blue and gold in her career, and has been a reliable glove in the outfield, having not committed a fielding error in each of the last two seasons.

"Casey is the one true four-year T-Bird in this year's class and is someone who had a long-time goal of being a Thunderbird," said McKellar. "She had a coaching change as an incoming freshman but really showed her commitment in her time here and been a great part of the team."


 
Carleen Murray has been a star on the mound for the T-Birds since she arrived on campus ahead of the 2024 season, after playing her first year of collegiate softball at NCAA Division I Howard University. She's enjoyed her best season yet in 2026, leading the Cascade Collegiate Conference in both ERA (1.21) and strikeouts (165), while throwing a complete game in 16 of her 22 starts. She's earned the CCC Pitcher of the Week award four times this year.
 
Often backstopping her is Kennedy Laird, the catcher from Langley who played a year at Niagara University before coming back closer to home ahead of her second collegiate season. She's also in the midst of a career-best campaign, setting new personal highs in batting average (.244) and home runs (three), while tying her previous high for RBIs (13).

Jessica Heutink is the final member of the trio of 2024 transfers, hopping back over the water from the University of Victoria. The first baseman is one of the Thunderbirds' top offensive weapons, sitting second on the team in batting average (.317) and tied for first in RBIs (20). She's recorded a hit in six of her last seven outings, as well as in all but one home game so far this year.

"Kennedy, Jessica and Carleen came in the same year, part of my first class," added McKellar. "I recruited them to come here and they've been impact players their entire time here – elevating the program in terms of intensity, vying to be a playoff team and making the NAIA opening round, and they've given us a chance to do that each year that they've been here."


 
Last but not least, Clare VanSpall is in her second year with the program after transferring from Douglas College ahead of last season. The Delta product has quickly become a leader within the team – serving as part of the group of four captains this year – and sports a .267 batting average along with a .430 slugging percentage, the latter being the second-best mark on the team.
 
"Clare was actually an athlete I recruited to play for me at Douglas, before I took the job here. She played two years at Douglas while I got two years under my belt at UBC, and then we got to complete the goal of having her play for me…she's been a great leader and has been versatile playing as both an infielder and outfielder.
 
"All five of them are just wonderful young women. They really show the best of our program and have made us better. We're grateful for everything they've given and are really excited to celebrate them with family and friends on Saturday."


 
The T-Birds' opponents for this weekend will be playing in their final games of the year this weekend, with Bushnell missing out on the postseason. It's been a tough year for the Beacons, although they did pull off a big win over College of Idaho last weekend and will be hoping to snag another upset in their trip to British Columbia.
 
Friday's games begin at 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. (all times PT) at Collings Field. Saturday's Senior Day features games at 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., with no tickets required to enjoy the games and the action also streaming live and on-demand on the Urban Edge Network.