<p>The UBC baseball season is in full swing after the Thunderbirds won their first four home games of the year against the Eastern Oregon Mountaineers this past weekend. The teams battled through a rain delay in Game One but were able to squeeze in all of their scheduled contests around the weather.</p>
<p>One of the standouts from the weekend was sophomore pitcher Will Anderson, who twirled a gem on Sunday morning to help UBC come out on top 7-4. He fired 6 2/3 innings while striking out 12 and allowing just one earned run. Although he exited the game before the Thunderbirds&#8217; offense took the lead for good, he was honoured with the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) Pitcher of the Week honour for his performance.</p>
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<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a huge honour and I&#8217;m pretty proud of it, but I couldn&#8217;t have done it without a lot of other people,&#8221; said Anderson, speaking with Blue Jays Nation. &#8220;I have been pretty focused all offseason, but a lot of guys, especially in the weight room, have helped me and the coaches have been super helpful in giving me a plan. It makes it easy when you can just go out there and do it and they&#8217;ve given you everything that you need.&#8221;</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/WillAndersonBSB?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WillAndersonBSB</a> with a breakout performance this afternoon against Eastern Oregon with 12 strikeouts over 6.2 innings as <a href="https://twitter.com/ubc_baseball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ubc_baseball</a> went on to win 7-4 in game 3 of the series.<br />They took care of business in game 4 to complete the four game sweep.<a href="https://twitter.com/PNW_CBR?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PNW_CBR</a> <a href="https://t.co/fOwNWEZvHC">pic.twitter.com/fOwNWEZvHC</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Chris Georges (@ChrisGeorges25) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisGeorges25/status/1893844138602209601?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 24, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>The left-hander was a key member of the team&#8217;s pitching staff last season, appearing in 15 games while starting five of them. Over the summer, he played in the West Coast League with the Bellingham Bells, where he was able to continue to improve his pitch mix.</p>
<p>&#8220;Right now I&#8217;m throwing a four-seam fastball and a slider and change-up, but the change-up is something that I really tried to attack this summer in Bellingham,&#8221; explained Anderson. &#8220;The coaches helped me a lot. I think before there were some issues with it being too hard, so I just switched the grip to a split-change and sort of tried to kill some spin, and it&#8217;s worked pretty well for me.&#8221;</p>
<p>The six-foot-one pitcher&#8217;s season high for strikeouts in a game was five last season, but he&#8217;s already surpassed that figure in two of his three appearances this year. Down in Florida to start the year, he punched out six over just 2 2/3 innings against Southeastern University, routinely one of the best NAIA programs in the country. Despite compiling a dozen whiffs at Tourmaline West Stadium this past weekend, his approach on the mound isn&#8217;t necessarily geared toward racking up the strikeouts.</p>
<p>&#8220;I think just the ability to command my off-speed pitches pretty well is a way to get guys off their game,&#8221; said Anderson. &#8220;I was able to open up the chase pretty well on the weekend, but I think I&#8217;m typically not trying to go out there and strike out guys, I&#8217;m just trying to command the zone. If I can get swing and miss then that&#8217;s ideal, but that&#8217;s not what I&#8217;m trying to do.&#8221;</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">WCL Alumni swept the Cascade Collegiate Conference weekly awards.</p>
<p>Hitter &#8211; <a href="https://twitter.com/bhambells?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@bhambells</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/WWSweets?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WWSweets</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/driftersbball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@driftersbball</a>  Charlie Updegrave 7-10, 2 2B, HR, 4 RBI for <a href="https://twitter.com/LCSCBaseball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LCSCBaseball</a> </p>
<p>Pitcher &#8211; <a href="https://twitter.com/bhambells?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@bhambells</a> Will Anderson 6 2/3 IP, 1 R, 12 K for <a href="https://twitter.com/ubc_baseball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ubc_baseball</a> <a href="https://t.co/mrlxLDKM7X">pic.twitter.com/mrlxLDKM7X</a></p>
<p>&mdash; West Coast League (@WCLBaseball) <a href="https://twitter.com/WCLBaseball/status/1894607158467334293?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 26, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>The pride of Delta, BC will toe the slab this weekend against the Lewis-Clark State College Warriors, a team that is typically ranked toward the top within the CCC. After dropping ten straight games to them last season, UBC was able to end their season with an 8-3 victory in the Opening Round of the Lewiston Bracket last May. The Thunderbirds were 14-4 at home in 2024, with all four of those losses coming at the hands of the Warriors.</p>
<p>&#8220;You don&#8217;t try and make it a bigger game,&#8221; Anderson explains. &#8220;We just try and stay as the same team and not get too big and just sort of play our game, because if we get too big or put them on a pedestal, it can cause problems.&#8221;</p>
<p>UBC&#8217;s second home series of the year will kick off on Friday afternoon, followed by a doubleheader on Saturday, and the fourth and final game will take place on Sunday morning.</p>
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The UBC baseball season is in full swing after the Thunderbirds won their first four home games of the year against the Eastern Oregon Mountaineers this past weekend. The teams battled through a rain delay in Game One but were able to squeeze in all of their scheduled contests around the weather.

One of the standouts from the weekend was sophomore pitcher Will Anderson, who twirled a gem on Sunday morning to help UBC come out on top 7-4. He fired 6 2/3 innings while striking out 12 and allowing just one earned run. Although he exited the game before the Thunderbirds' offense took the lead for good, he was honoured with the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) Pitcher of the Week honour for his performance.
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"It's a huge honour and I'm pretty proud of it, but I couldn't have done it without a lot of other people," said Anderson, speaking with Blue Jays Nation. "I have been pretty focused all offseason, but a lot of guys, especially in the weight room, have helped me and the coaches have been super helpful in giving me a plan. It makes it easy when you can just go out there and do it and they've given you everything that you need."

https://twitter.com/ChrisGeorges25/status/1893844138602209601

The left-hander was a key member of the team's pitching staff last season, appearing in 15 games while starting five of them. Over the summer, he played in the West Coast League with the Bellingham Bells, where he was able to continue to improve his pitch mix.

"Right now I'm throwing a four-seam fastball and a slider and change-up, but the change-up is something that I really tried to attack this summer in Bellingham," explained Anderson. "The coaches helped me a lot. I think before there were some issues with it being too hard, so I just switched the grip to a split-change and sort of tried to kill some spin, and it's worked pretty well for me."

The six-foot-one pitcher's season high for strikeouts in a game was five last season, but he's already surpassed that figure in two of his three appearances this year. Down in Florida to start the year, he punched out six over just 2 2/3 innings against Southeastern University, routinely one of the best NAIA programs in the country. Despite compiling a dozen whiffs at Tourmaline West Stadium this past weekend, his approach on the mound isn't necessarily geared toward racking up the strikeouts.

"I think just the ability to command my off-speed pitches pretty well is a way to get guys off their game," said Anderson. "I was able to open up the chase pretty well on the weekend, but I think I'm typically not trying to go out there and strike out guys, I'm just trying to command the zone. If I can get swing and miss then that's ideal, but that's not what I'm trying to do."

https://twitter.com/WCLBaseball/status/1894607158467334293

The pride of Delta, BC will toe the slab this weekend against the Lewis-Clark State College Warriors, a team that is typically ranked toward the top within the CCC. After dropping ten straight games to them last season, UBC was able to end their season with an 8-3 victory in the Opening Round of the Lewiston Bracket last May. The Thunderbirds were 14-4 at home in 2024, with all four of those losses coming at the hands of the Warriors.

"You don't try and make it a bigger game," Anderson explains. "We just try and stay as the same team and not get too big and just sort of play our game, because if we get too big or put them on a pedestal, it can cause problems."

UBC's second home series of the year will kick off on Friday afternoon, followed by a doubleheader on Saturday, and the fourth and final game will take place on Sunday morning.

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Chatting with UBC Thunderbirds pitcher Will Anderson after being named Cascade Conference Pitcher of the Week

Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette (11) tags out Philadelphia Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto (10) at second base during the third inning at Rogers Centre.

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