UBC's Windeler faced Gonzaga, defending champ Oregon State
Former Toronto Mets LHP Niall Windeler (Toronto, Ont.) made back-to-back starts as the UBC Thunderbids closed out their fall season.
2018 Fall Update
RESULTS:
Loss 1-0 Gonzaga University
Loss 4-0 Oregon State University
TOP PITCHERS:
Jr Niall Windeler vs. Gonzaga: 4 Inn, 2 Hits, 1 BB, 2 Ks
vs. Oregon State: 3 1/3 Inn, 3 Hits, 1 Run, 2 Ks, 3 BB’s
Sr Patrick Van Den Brink vs. Gonzaga: 2 Inn, 3 Hits, 1 Run
vs. Oregon State: 1 2/3 Inn, 1 Hit, 2 Runs, 2 Ks, 1 BB
So Jared Spearing vs. Oregon State: 3 Inn, 3 Hits, 1 Run, 5 K’s, 1 BB
TOP HITTERS:
Sr. Lucas Soper vs. Gonzaga: 1-3, Single
Mike Fitzsimmons vs. Oregon State: 1-3, Single
COACHES COMMENTS:
After completing a foreign tour in Japan this summer, the Thunderbirds added to their competitive schedule with two NCAA Division 1 opponents to finish off the fall schedule.
The first game on Oct. 7 was against the Gonzaga Bulldogs in Spokane, Wash. It was a seven-inning affair. The pitching and defense was strong and Gonzaga was able to plate one run late in the game to secure the victory. Niall Windeler (Toronto, Ont.) All-Conference Pitcher 2018, got the start and kept the Bulldogs off the board for four innings. Unfortunately the offence never got going against a good pitching staff in which only one hit by Lucas Soper (Vancouver, BC) was all the Birds could muster.
The next weekend, the Thunderbirds travelled down to Corvallis, Ore. to battle against the defending NCAA National Champion, Oregon State Beavers. For the first time in program history UBC got to challenge the NCAA defending champs. Windeler got the start again and the game was tight throughout but the Thunderbird offence couldn’t get to the OSU pitchers and the four runs put up by the Beavers were more than enough. Jared Spearing (Winnipeg, Man.) was strong in relief striking out five over three innings of work.
Both games were quite competitive thanks to good pitching and defense played by the Birds. The team now enters the off- season training portion of the year and will ramp back up after the winter break. The Thunderbirds will begin the 2019 spring in Santa Barbara, Calif. with a four-game set against Westmont College, Feb. 8-10.