Strong pitching, clutch hits earns UBC series win

The UBC Thunderbirds defeated the Lewis-Clark State Warriors 8-5 on Saturday. Photo: Vamsi Nadella, UBC Athletics

February 21, 2026

By Jeff Sargeant

UBC Communications

VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds secured the Cascade Collegiate Conference season opening series win over the Lewis-Clark State Warriors with an 8-5 victory at a rainy Tourmaline West Stadium Saturday afternoon.

Succeeding in a key early test against a fellow ranked opponent, the No. 10 T-Birds took hold of the rubber match by breaking a 5-5 tie with a pair of runs in the seventh while sophomore Lucas Huynh (Vancouver, B.C.) shut down the No. 21 Warriors for the two-inning save, his first of the season.

"Our hitters had some really gritty at bats, so did their guys, I thought the pitching on both sides was outstanding and that could have gone either way," said UBC head coach Chris Pritchett, following a back-and-forth affair in what was by far the closest game of the series. "It was a fun game, we have so many new people here so to be in those kind of tight games against a good team is just a tremendous learning opportunity. I was really happy how we responded today."

Tied 2-2 heading to the bottom of the fifth, Vancouver native Oliver Clements' leadoff triple allowed the freshman outfielder to score when he was driven home by a Braeden Scott (Vancouver, B.C.) double.

A pitching change saw Mason Goodson take control on the mound for LC, but the junior reliever promptly gave up a Matt Vanslyke (Whitby, Ont.) RBI single for a 4-2 UBC lead.

A throwing error loaded the bags for the T-Birds as Kyle Yip (Calgary, Alta.) took a walk which pushed across another UBC run. The Warriors managed to get out of the inning without further damage before answering back with three runs of their own.

Anthony Karagiannopolous' RBI single cut UBC's lead to two runs while Brandon Nguyen was brought in to pinch hit with two outs and drove in another.

Eerily similar to what the T-Birds accomplished an inning prior, LC State's third run of the sixth came on a bases loaded walk, tying the game 5-5.

Freshman Mason Chien (Langley, B.C.) got UBC's last out of the frame and struck out two of his three batters faced in the seventh to officially collect the win.

Chien's support came thanks in part to a Warriors throwing error which allowed Kansai Sugimoto to score from third for what turned out to be the game-winning run.

Yip stole second and used his speed again when Kellen Bourne (Calgary, Alta.) singled to centre, coming all the way across the plate for a two-run UBC lead heading to the eighth where a Jordan Stewart (Vancouver, B.C.) pinch-hit double scored Scott from first base for some extra insurance.

While Myles Chamberlain (Victoria, B.C.) was unable to collect his third win of the season, he provided a third straight strong start for the T-Birds allowing just two runs on four LC hits while striking out six.

"He set the tone early, a lot of strikes," Pritchett said. "Everyone who came in I thought was on their game and throwing strikes. They have some good hitters so you make a mistake, they make you pay. We were putting some relievers in some tough situations and they responded really well so hopefully that continues. I think our hitters are starting to come around, too, so I'm really happy with the direction we're headed."

"To see us have success in this series is also great, but I think the main thing is we have a lot of confidence in this group, we just want to make sure we are playing at our best and that's where most of our focus on the coaching side is. I think our players have really busted their butts the last two weeks to improve on some of the things we were struggling with, so I'm glad when they get a result. We still got a ways to go and we just need to keep hitting better, that's the goal."

Yip finished the game with a pair of RBIs as did Josh Cote (Midland, Ont.) who opened scoring for UBC with a second inning two-run homer.

The 'Birds get one more crack at the Warriors in Sunday's non-conference series finale set for 11:00 a.m. at Tourmaline West Stadium.