The UBC Department of Athletics is pleased to announce that it will be webcasting 49 regular-season baseball games plus playoffs this season through an agreement with INSINC, a Burnaby-based Internet communication solutions company that counts the Vancouver Canucks and Vancouver Canadians among its clientele.

The webcast schedule includes all but 10 games, which cannot be done for technological reasons.

"We're extremely excited about this arrangement and what it means to our fans," said UBC sports information director Marc Weber. "This is by far the most comprehensive broadcast schedule we've ever been able to put together for any of our teams, and it's going to allow our loyal baseball supporters, wherever they are in the world, to follow the Thunderbirds home and away all season."

"INSINC has worked very hard to put this together, and they're committed to quality, and to expanding and enhancing this product in the future with additional multimedia tools. Their vision is a great fit for UBC Athletics as we want to be a leader in this area."

Fans will pay a nominal annual subscription fee of $29.95 to access the webcasts, while one-time listeners will have the option to purchase a single game at $4.95.

"In order to provide as many live events as possible and the best in multimedia production, we had to look at a subscription-based system to aid our cost-recovery efforts," said Weber.

In four short seasons as an official member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the UBC Thunderbirds have developed into one of the league's elite programs, winning their first Region 1 title in 2003 and sending six players into professional baseball, including Jeff Francis, the ninth overall selection in the 2002 MLB Draft.

The Thunderbirds throw out the first pitch of 2004 on Feb. 12, when they take on NCAA Div. 1 Missouri at the Rawlings/Oakland A's Spring Training Tournament in Phoenix, Arizona – one of six Div. 1 games for the club this season.

UBC remains in Arizona and California for nine games, returning to Vancouver on Feb. 21. The Thunderbirds' first home game is March 22 when they host NCAA Div. III Pacific University (Forest Grove, Ore.) at Nat Bailey Stadium. The conference season begins at Albertson (Caldwell, Idaho) on March 13 and the first home conference action is March 27 against Concordia (Portland, Ore.).

Last season, the Thunderbirds came within two wins of a berth in the NAIA World Series, dropping the Super-Regional playoff series 2-0 to Biola of La Mirada, Calif.

Starting Thursday, Feb. 12, fans will have the opportunity to sign up for a subscription online. All major credit cards will be accepted and a password will instantly be emailed to the user upon approval.