After walking through the doors of Nat Bailey for the first time in over 7 months Friday, and buying the new and very stylish black Canadians hat, I watched the UBC Thunderbirds take on NAIA powerhouse Lewis-Clark State.  Was it Northwest League baseball? No.  But it was certainly worth the 5 dollar admission.  DH/P Scott Webster led the way on the mound early, and ended up going 6.1 innings, giving up half-a-dozen hits, five runs (two earned), a walk and he managed to strike out five Warriors.  He got the loss but, man he threw well.  

Relievers Kurt Schumacher, Ashton Florko (a former Warrior) and Geoff Burke all pitched in relief, and in their 2.2 combined innings of work, gave up just five hits, one run and a lone walk to the visitors.  UBC lost 6-3, but despite the injuries of many players (which I’ll get to in a second), they came up strong.  Matt Chester was 3-5 with two runs scored and a double, and DH Ryan Pilgrim had two hits, a walk (HBP), and an RBI.  

Compare this to the four players on the Warriors who each had multi-hit games (including one pinch-hitter who ended up going 2-2 with two runs), and it doesn’t look too great on the Thunderbirds, but they still held their ground, only loosing control of the game in the 7th when Lewis-Clark State broke out of a 2-2 tie with three runs. 

LC State’s starting pitcher Matt Fitts improved to 9-0 on the season with his 7 innings of four-hit baseball, where he struck out eight batters.  Man, 9 wins in a season that’s not over yet, amazing.  Then again, Lewis-Clark is 44-4 on the season.  They still have many more games to go before it’s all over as well.

The game was great.  The crowd, was pretty good for a Thunderbird Friday afternoon game, and despite the fact UBC lost it was well worth the trek.  One weird note however, DH Ikaika Lester wears a softball helmet.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that, and I’m guessing he’s gotten nailed in the face with a ball if he now has a cage, but it’s never something I’ve ever seen at a college or pro ballgame.

Lewis-Clark won the other three non-conference games this weekend, sweeping UBC 4-0.  The Thunderbirds failed to beat them all season. 

UBC played the University of Washington yesterday, and lost 14-4.  And UW is a Division 1 team, UBC’s only Division I opponent of the season. 

The ‘Birds now head to Caldwell, Idaho, where they must win one of three Conference games from the College of Idaho Coyotes (formerly Albertson), in order to host the Region I Tournament next week.  It would feature LC-State, College of Idaho, UBC and Concordia-Portland (these teams are already confirmed).  If College of Idaho sweeps UBC, the ‘Birds will head back on the 12-hour bus ride to Caldwell, and play there again for the second series in as many days.  It wouldn’t be fun is my point.

Unfortunately, UBC has fallen victim to the very dangerous injury bug.

Outfielder Matt Chester was injured Saturday after blowing his MCL/ACL and is out for the season, his Senior one.  He has played his final game as a Thunderbird.  Senior Mike Styrna and Mike Elias are both doubtful for the weekend, they’re both outfielders as well.  Last year’s star Nic Lendvoy is out for the season, as are SP Taylor King and RP Jordan Anderson.  Man, that must be hard with four outfielders, the #2 starter and a great reliever all out of the lineup. 

They’re one win away from hosting Region I, and it would be a shame to come this close, and not host.