iCase Huskies grad Jaxon Valcke (Stratford, Ont.) had seven hitis, including two homers and driving i six runs for UBC in a weekend sweep.

British Columbia Thunderbirds

Weekly Upddate No. 5

Results

Conference

Win 10-0 Oregon Tech (NAIA)

Win 13-8 Oregon Tech (NAIA)

Win 6-4 Oregon Tech (NAIA)

Win 4-3 Oregon Tech (NAIA)

Overall Record: 14-11 Conference Record: 9-3 (1st)

Former North Shore Twin James Bradwell (Gibsons, BC) worked six scoreless as UBC beat Oregon Tech. Bradwell allowed three hiits and whiffed seven.

Top Pitchers:

Jr Niall Windeler 7 Inn, 2 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 Earned, 0 BB, 7 K’s (1 Win)

Jr Barry Caine 5.1 Inn, 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 Earned, 2 BB’s, 5 K’s (1 Win)

Jr James Bradwell 6 Inn, 3 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 Earned, 0 BB, 7 K’s

Fr Brett Corbeth 3 Inn, 0 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 Earned, 0 BB’s, 2 K’s (1 Win)

Top Hitters:

So Jordan Dray 7-15, 7 RBI, 4 R, 2 HR, 1 BB, 1 HBP

So Jaxon Valcke 7-18, 6 RBI, 4 R, 2 HR, 1 SB

So Nolan Weger 6-16, 2 RBI, 2 R, 1 HR, 2 BB, 3 SB

Jr Austen Butler 4-12, 3 RBI, 2 R,1 HR, 1 BB

Coaches Comments:

The Thunderbirds came back from Klamath Falls, ID with a series sweep of the Oregon Tech Owls, in back to back days of double header action. Game 1 Starter Niall Windeler was brilliant throwing a seven-inning complete game shutout. Windeler tallied seven strikeouts along the way while allowing only two hits and walking none. The T Bird bats came out hot, putting up six runs in the first inning, which was more than enough for Windeler to cruise to a 10-0 victory in the shortened seven-inning game. UBC ended the game with a total five home runs (Dray, Valcke, Weger, Butler, Penner) to power the Birds in the win.

Game 2 was a back and forth battle as the Owls jumped out to an early 4-0 lead but the Thunderbird offence continued to click as they answered with five runs of their own in the third. Not to be outdone Oregon Tech promptly put up two in the bottom half to go up 6-5. The Birds then retook the lead thanks to a two-run double by Noah Or in the top half of the fourth, a lead in which they would hold. Freshman Brett Corbeth held UBC in the game as he earned the win throwing three scoreless. Or and Valcke had three RBI’s each while Hupe and Dray both went deep to bring the home run count to seven on the day.

Day 2 wouldn’t see as much offence as the Thunderbirds would count on good pitching and defense along with timely hitting to secure two more victories. After five innings in game one the Birds found themselves with a 5-4 lead. Junior Barry Caine would come into relief and shut the door pitching 4 1/3 innings of hit baseball. The offence was paced by Fitzsimmons and Weger who scored a combined three of the T Bird runs, while Jordan Dray stayed hot, pitching in with two more RBIs.

Looking for the series sweep the Birds sent James Bradwell to hill, and he did not disappoint. In his first start of the year, Bradwell was excellent with five scorelesss against the Owls. He left the game with a 1-0 lead but the Owls jumped out in front scoring 3 times in the next 2 innings. Trailing 3-2 in the top of the ninth, Fitzsimmons led off with a HBP setting the stage for Jaxon Valcke. Valcke blasted his second home run of the weekend to put the Birds back on top. Senior Pat Van Den Brink came in to earn the save as the Thunderbirds completed the comeback and a four-game sweep of the Oregon Tech Owls.

Missing in action this week was freshman pitcher Daniel Sereda (shoulder) but Jaxon Valcke was able to return from an elbow scare last week.

The Thunderbirds find themselves alone in first place as they look to continue their five-game winning streak next week against the College of Idaho.

UPCOMING:

Friday, March 22 @ 3 PM @ College of Idaho (NAIA) Caldwell, ID

Saturday, March 23 @ 12 PM @ College of Idaho (NAIA) DH Caldwell, ID

Sunday, March 24 @ 11 AM @ College of Idaho (NAIA) Caldwell, ID

UBC Wk 5: Bradwell, Dray, Valcke, Windeler help Birds to sweep