FRESNO, CA -
Mark Hardy made sure that his UBC career and his team's season continued past Wednesday night, leading the top-seeded Thunderbirds to a 6-3 victory over the no. 2 seeded Fresno Pacific Sunbirds in an elimination game at the 2010 NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round in Fresno, CA.
The senior left-handed pitcher brought his 'A' game in one of the biggest starts of his career, going eight innings and scattering 10 hits and three runs while notching 11 strikeouts.
With the win, the T-Birds advance to face the University of Victoria-Houston Jaguars in another elimination game on Thursday at 3:00 p.m. UHV upset UBC 5-0 in the 'Birds first game of the week and the winner of their second match-up faces Point Loma Nazarene at 7:00 p.m. tomorrow.
If PLNU wins that game, they earn a spot at the 2010 Avista-NAIA World Series. If UBC or UHV beat Point Loma, the tournament extends to Friday with a winner take all re-match.
The Sunbirds made it interesting in the ninth when Andrew Douglas hit a two-run home run to right-centre, Hardy's lone mistake on the day, which cut the UBC lead to 6-3.
Shawn Hetherington came into the game and picked up where Hardy left off, earning the save with eventual back-to-back strikeouts.
"That's three straight starts for Mark against really good offensive teams in College of Idaho [twice] and here tonight against one of the best in the NAIA and he's shut down all of them," said UBC head coach
Terry McKaig. "Under the circumstances, with everything on the line, that is arguably Mark's best game of his career. He was huge for us."
Hardy had the upper hand over the Sunbirds most of the night, striking out the side in both the second and seventh inning,s but he had to battle through a tough first inning to keep the hosts off the scoreboard.
A pair of singles and a free pass loaded the bases with two outs for FPU but Hardy responded with his first strikeout of the game to quell the threat.
He went on to retire the next 11 batters before the Sunbirds opened the scoring with back-to-back doubles in the fifth inning to scratch out a 1-0 lead.
UBC wasted little time responding as they scored four times in the bottom of the inning.
Freshman outfielder
Nick Senior sparked the T-Bird offensive outburst with a double down the line which put runners on second and third with no outs.
Keaton Briscoe and
Greg Densem each cashed in a runner by way of a fielder's choice and a sacrifice bunt but the T-Birds did more damage after a Sunbird miscue kept the inning alive.
Alex White got on base with two outs after the FPU second baseman mishandled a routine ground ball and Sean Pisarki followed with a triple to the gap in right-centre to score a run.
Sammie Starr came through with a single to drive in Pisarski and the 'Birds built a lead they never relinquished.
Terry McKaig thought that inning was the turning point today.
"That big inning was so critical because we were shutout yesterday and we were starting to press after being held off the board early today. You score that four and then we had a few big runs later which turned out to be key based on how the game finished. We're now a team that's relaxed."
Hardy worked out of a jam in the sixth, snagging a well-hit ball back to the mound for the final out and his teammates added insurance runs to seal the win.
Nic Lendvoy cashed in White with a single in the seventh and Densem picked up his second RBI of the day with a single in the eighth.
Kelyn Schellenberg, who was making his second start of the day for the Sunbirds, took the loss going all eight innings while surrendering six runs (three earned) and 10 hits.
Games Notes: McKaig on Schellenberg's performance: "He's as tough as they come and he showed it tonight throwing his second game of the day. To throw 117 pitches after a solid start this morning, you can't say enough about what he meant to that team"...Schellenberg pitched 14 innings during the final day of his NAIA career...Senior led the 'Birds with three hits, one double and two singles...McKaig on Senior: "Nick is a player we know we have a bright future with. He's forced himself into the starting line-up during the second half of the season and the kid is starting to deliver big hits for us."
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