RIVERSIDE, CA - The UBC Thunderbirds continue their quest for a berth into the 55th annual Avista-NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho with a trip to Riverside, CA for the 2011 NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round this week.
UBC must win the five team, double-elimination tournament to advance to the NAIA World Series, scheduled for May 27 to June 3. The 'Birds have been awarded the no. 2 seed in the Riverside bracket, after claiming the NAIA West conference crown last weekend to improve their record to 30-15 on the season. They were ranked no. 17 in the final NAIA Coaches Poll of the season released last week.
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL (results, bracket, live stats and video)
Joining the T-Birds in Riverside are the host and no. 1 seeded Cal Baptist Lancers (GSAC league champions, 41-14), no. 3 Concordia University (Calif.) Eagles (GSAC tournament champions, 35-18), no. 4 Cal State San Marcos Cougars (A.I.I. tournament champions, 32-17), and no. 5 St. Thomas (Florida) Bobcats (Sun Conference tournament runner-up, 25-30).
UBC opens their tournament against the Eagles on Thursday, May at 12:00 p.m. with the winner staying on the top half of the bracket. The loser of Thursday's game will drop into the lower half of the bracket and will have to go unbeaten the rest of the way to earn a trip to Lewiston.
Earlier this season, the 'Birds dropped a 16-8 pre-season decision to the Eagles way back on February 13. UBC also made a stop on that road trip to take on no. 3 NAIA-ranked Cal Baptist, splitting a two game series - losing 8-2 and winning 7-2.
Every game will be streamed live for $24.95 for the entire tournament or $7.95 for each game. Live stats will also be available for free.
A look at the Thunderbirds
UBC enters play this week coming off a 3-1 performance at the NAIA West conference tournament last week in Menlo, CA. The 'Birds were the no. 2 seed and made their way to the championship final with a pair of wins to open the tournament. They beat no. 3 Simpson 5-0 in their opener before taking down no. 4 College of Idaho by a score of 6-3. In the first championship game, UBC was upended by C of I 7-2 in the double-elimination event. UBC rose to the occasion in the second, and final, championship game with a 13-8 victory over C of I to clinch an automatic berth in the 2011 NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round.
Still leading the way at the plate for the T-Birds is sophomore centre fielder
Blake Carruthers, who sports a team-leading .320 batting average, seven home runs, 12 doubles, and 37 RBI. Fellow second-year
Keaton Briscoe is having a solid campaign as well with a .297 batting average, nine doubles, 16 RBI while pacing the 'Birds with 36 walks, a .426 on-base percentage, and 19 stolen bases. Rookie
Andrew Madsen has come on strong over the second half of the season - he knocked in three RBI during UBC's championship game win - and is batting .292 in the 23 games he's played this season.
One of the T-Birds hallmarks all season has been solid pitching from their veteran staff. Seniors
Sheldon McDonald,
Eric Brown, and
Shawn Hetherington all put up impressive performances during the NAIA West tournament to lead the 'Birds to their third straight conference title. McDonald is 7-2 on the season with a sparkling 1.46 ERA over 55 innings. The hard-throwing lefty has struck out 55 batters while only walking 13 and has conceded just seven extra base hits. Brown is 7-1 on the year with a 1.91 ERA over a team-leading 75.1 innings of work and has struck out 71 opponents who are hitting just .201 against the crafty righty. Brown showed his ability to adapt, as he came in to throw the ninth inning of the T-Birds championship win. Hetherington has been solid out of the pen and as a spot starter, especially during the second half of the year. His ERA is down to 1.95 in 37 innings of action.
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