VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds came out on top in three close games, including a 4-1 victory in the finals over the Concordia Cavaliers on Sunday, to win the NAIA West Tournament on their home field, earning a berth in the NAIA World Series Opening Round next week.
 
The T-Birds got great pitching all tournament long, and that continued on Sunday, particularly among their relievers, as Alex Webb and Matt Thornton combined to shut Concordia down over the final four innings. Excellent fielding and timely hitting were also a big part of UBC's success against this extremely competitive tournament field.
 
"This was a big accomplishment," said UBC head coach Terry McKaig. "We knew it would be a tough tournament, and all three games were close, so you have to give a lot of credit to the kids. To play three games that are tight where you have to execute on everything is not easy."
 
Webb was especially solid on Sunday, relieving starter Bryan Pawlina with a runner on and nobody out in the fifth. That runner, charged to Pawlina, did come around to score, but otherwise Webb ended up going 3.1 innings of shutout ball, allowing just two hits and no walks, with three strikeouts.
 
"I had a plan at the start of the game that if Bryan was doing well we'd let him go, but at the first sign of danger, we had a lot of confidence in Alex," McKaig said. "He's got some good stuff, and the overall numbers don't show it, but if you looked at the splits of what he's done over the last month, he's pretty tough and he really came in and nailed it down for us. That was huge because it gave our offence a chance to take the lead."
 
Webb recorded one out in the ninth before the Cavaliers finally got to him for a couple hits to bring the tying run to the plate. McKaig then turned to closer Matt Thornton, who got a strikeout and a flyout to seal up the conference championship for UBC.
 
Pawlina was allowing some early baserunners, but managed to get himself out of trouble through five-plus innings of work, allowing just the one run on five hits and a walk, with two strikeouts.
 
The winning run was driven in by Tyler Enns for the second straight game, as he drove in Bruce Yari from second with an RBI single, but McKaig pointed to the third inning as the key spot in the game that set his squad on the right path.
 
"A big turning point today was in that third inning. Things weren't going well and they were getting guys on base every inning, and offensively we weren't taking great swings, so I brought them in as a team and just said 'we have to take control – this is our tournament,' and we turned the tides and pecked away one run at a time, and next thing you know you're up 4-1."
 
And fittingly enough in his final home game as a T-Bird, it was senior shortstop Matt Spillman that really got things going in that third inning. After Jerod Bartnik walked and then stole second, Spillman drove in the game's opening run with a solid rip back up the middle. He finished the game 2-for-3 with a walk, a run scored and an RBI.
 
"Matt's a clutch player, and that's what you ask for in big games is your biggest guys to step forward," McKaig said. "Him being one of our leaders as a fifth-year senior, that's what we needed and he was big today."
 
After the Cavs cut the lead down to 2-1 in the top of the sixth, UBC got a couple key insurance runs in the bottom half. Kevin Biro drove Spillman home with an RBI single through the right side, and Bryan Arthur cashed in a second run with a sac fly to make it 4-1 T-Birds.
 
After a 29-11 overall regular season, UBC went 3-0 in the tournament, with wins over Menlo, Corban and Concordia to take the title. McKaig gave much of the credit to the team's senior leadership for keeping the entire group focused during a difficult season.
 
"It's been a tough year on a lot of our varsity sports, and we were no different, going through the varsity review, but give these kids a lot of credit. I personally was busy a lot of days doing other things but these guys really stayed focused on what they needed to do, and that was winning this championship, and I'm really proud of them."
 
UBC now moves on to the NAIA West World Series Opening Round, which will begin on Monday, May 12. The T-Birds don't yet know where they will end up for the Opening Round, but they have been sent to Southern California the past three times they participated.