UBC sweeps doubleheader over Corban

The UBC Thunderbirds swept a doubleheader from the Corban Warriors on Saturday. Photo: Vamsi Nadelli, UBC Athletics

March 14, 2026

By Toby Kerr

UBC Communications

VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds were dominant on Saturday, playing their best baseball at Tourmaline West Stadium yet this year as they took down the Corban Warriors 13-3 (eight innings) and 9-1 in a doubleheader sweep.

The victories give the T-Birds a 3-1 win in the overall series, with the 'Birds now having won all four of their series to start the Cascade Collegiate Conference season.

UBC's top hitters were terrific, but two new T-Birds particularly stood out. First-year centre fielder Oliver Clements (Vancouver, B.C.) had a day to remember, reaching base seven times and scampering home on six of those occasions, singlehandedly outscoring the Warriors in each game. University of Toledo transfer Josh Cote (Midland, Ont.) went deep in both halves of the double dip, driving in a total of six runs.

Both UBC starters were strong in earning the two wins, with Myles Chamberlain (Victoria, B.C.)) making a short-notice start and tossing five innings of two-run ball. Daniel Orfaly (White Rock, B.C.) twirled five scoreless innings in game two.

"I thought our pitching set the tone, they were really good," said UBC head coach Chris Pritchett, after the second game. "I thought our hitters were way more patient today, we just kept putting on the pressure. We were a lot more balanced than the first day, so I was really happy with how we played."

Corban's JC Klee was the bright spot for his team in game one, picking up three hits for the Warriors. Peyton Rickard had hits in both games, including a pair of knocks and a run scored in the doubleheader's second half.

In game one, Chamberlain drew the last-minute start following a pre-game scratch, but he looked more than prepared for the assignment. The third-year transfer from Cloud Community College carved up Corban through three hitless innings, with the T-Birds staking him to a three-run lead. The third run came on a moonshot homer over the left field berm by catcher Kyle Yip (Calgary, Alta.).

The Warriors scratched across a run in the fourth on a double by Chase Elliott that just got under the glove of sliding T-Birds centre fielder Clements, before Isaac Bateman cashed him in on a bloop single to right.

The 'Birds added to their lead in their half of the fourth, with Stephen Waters (Toronto, Ont.) slapping a double down the left field line to send Clements hurtling home for his second run of the game. The very next batter, Kansai Sugimoto, crushed a home run to right-centre, suddenly opening up a 6-1 advantage for the home side.

The bats were busy for both teams in the middle innings, with Corban adding a run on a sac fly in the fifth before UBC tacked on three more with an RBI double, single and sac fly in the bottom half of the frame, bringing the score to 9-2.

Both teams would tally again in the fifth and the Warriors added another in the top of the sixth to make it six consecutive turns at the dish with the offensive team scoring. UBC was up 9-3 through six innings.

The 'Birds put the game away in the eighth with a two-run home run from Cote, followed soon after by a walk-off RBI double from Matt Vrlak (Vancouver, B.C.) to invoke the 10-run mercy rule in the bottom of the eighth.

Game two saw a dream start for the home side, with the first four UBC hitters reaching base and Cote cashing in the first run with a bases loaded walk. Warriors starter Isaac Bateman made an impressive recovery from there however, striking out each of the next three T-Birds batters to keep the deficit at one and fire up his team in the process.

The 'Birds were back at it in the second inning, with Kyle Yip poking an RBI single before fellow backstop Cote blasted a three-run homer, his second of the day, to put UBC up 5-0.

As T-Birds' starter Daniel Orfaly cruised through five scoreless innings, scattering just three hits, the blue and gold steadily built their lead. First baseman Braeden Scott (Vancouver, B.C.) made it 6-0 in the fourth with an RBI single to right before Clements laced an RBI double to left in the fifth to make it 7-0.

Corban brought in a slew of subs after that and did get on the board with a Joaquin Velez-Fucal RBI single in the eighth, before a two-run double from UBC shortstop Matt Vanslyke (Whitby, Ont.) in the bottom half of the inning put the cherry on top of a 9-1 win.

"Some people are getting more comfortable," reflected Pritchett.

"Whether they came over here as a transfer or they were here last year and didn't get a ton of playing time, we're seeing them getting their rhythm, build some confidence, adjusting to the speed of the game and settling in a little bit.

"This team I still think has a long way to go to get to what we can do, so we'll keep building, but I think it's heading in the right direction."

UBC will hit the road next week, heading for La Grande, Ore., to take on the Eastern Oregon Mountaineers in a four-game series. The teams will play Friday-Saturday doubleheaders, with Friday's action starting at 12:00 p.m. (P.T.) and Saturday's at 11:00 a.m. (P.T.).