REDDING, CA - The no. 13 ranked UBC Thunderbirds got off to a perfect start in conference play, picking up three wins over Simpson University on a busy Saturday as they improved to 9-1 on the season and 3-0 in NAIA West play.

The first two games, which UBC won 3-0 and 3-1, saw the T-Birds get big games from their talented pitching staff as starters Mark Hardy and Eric Brown gave up only five hits and one run while getting 11 strikeouts over 12 innings of work.

Taylor King picked up the save in the first tilt, giving up just one hit and Shawn Hetherington grabbed the save in the second game as Saturday's contests were just seven inning affairs.

Sammie Starr and Bob Foerster each picked up a pair of hits in the T-Birds 3-0 win while Nic Lendvoy and Alex White did the same in UBC's second win.

The final tilt of the day saw the T-Bird bats come alive as they out distanced Simpson 15-2. 

It was a trio of rookies that broke the game wide open as Andrew Firth smacked a grand slam while Keaton Briscoe added a three-run shot and Blake Carruthers a solo home run in the victory.

Six other T-Birds knocked in runs, including a pair from both Lendvoy and sophomore Sean Pisarski.

Sheldon McDonald got the win in his first conference start for the T-Birds with a trio of single innings from the bullpen.

UBC ends their California road trip tomorrow with a nine-inning affair against Simpson at 10:00 a.m.

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