VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds captured both ends of a Saturday baseball doubleheader against the visiting Corban Warriors at Thunderbird Park by taking a pair of one-run games, 4-3 and 7-6 in 11 innings.
 
With the victories, UBC improves to 35-12 on the season and 18-6 in NAIA West Grouping play. The Thunderbirds remain a game and a half ahead of Concordia (Ore.) in the battle to host the NAIA West Grouping Championships. At 10-14, Corban is alone in sixth place, and the last playoff spot.
 
"It was a great win, we have to play every game like it is a playoff game and get our best opportunity to host the playoffs at home," said Surrey, B.C., native Jerod Bartnik. "We have to work our way to playing our best baseball at the end of the year."
 
Pinch hitter Vinny Martin (Pender Island, B.C.) helped his UBC team clinch a dramatic 7-6 11th-inning victory in the series finale. Martin lined out to left field for the game-winning sacrifice fly, which scored centre fielder Bryan Arthur (Abbotsford, B.C.), who had been on third base. Arthur opened the inning with a double down the left field line. Third baseman Anthony Cusati (Burnaby, B.C.) then bunted him over to third, setting the stage for Martin's walk-off sac fly, which concluded a back-and-forth affair.
 
Corban went up 2-0 in the top of the first. But the Thunderbirds responded emphatically in the home half of the inning. Shortstop Kevin Biro (Deep Bay, B.C.), one of the seven UBC seniors honoured before the game, knocked a three-run home run over the left field fence close to the foul pole, scoring outfielder Tyler Enns (Winnipeg) and first baseman Bruce Yari (Waterloo, Ont.), who had both preceded Biro with singles.  It was the second home run of the year for Biro and the first for UBC at Thunderbird Park this season.
 
The two squads then traded runs, with the T-Birds getting one in the second on an RBI single by Enns while the Warriors notched one in the third.
 
Corban scored twice more in the fifth to take a 5-4 lead before the hosts went ahead 6-5.
 
In the sixth, UBC's Cusati lifted a sacrifice fly to centre to score Arthur, who got on base with a double before moving to third on a passed ball.
 
In the seventh, left fielder Brendan Rose (Calgary) hit a clutch two-out single to bring home Biro, who had been standing on third.
 
The Warriors replied right away with a run in the eighth inning to even the score at 6-6. Neither team scored in the ninth or 10th.

Arthur went 3 for 4 with three runs scored to lead the home side. Pitcher Alex Graham (North Vancouver, B.C.) threw 3.2 shutout innings of relief to earn the win and up his season record to 6-1.
 
Arthur, Bartnik, Biro, Graham, Cam Firth (London, Ont.), Conor Lillis-White (Toronto) and Brody Hawkins (Delta, B.C.) were all honoured as part of this year's class of graduating Thunderbirds.
 
Lillis-White improved to 9-2 after helping UBC to a 4-3 win in Saturday's first game. He gave up two runs and struck out six batters in six innings of work.
 
The T-Birds recorded a pair of runs in the first and second innings and held on for the triumph.
 
Biro opened the scoring with an RBI single to right to plate Enns, who had led off with a single of his own. Biro got to second on the throw home. Rose followed up with a single up the middle to allow Biro to touch home.
 
Enns made it 3-0 with an RBI single to left field in the second inning. Two batters later, and with Enns on third, Yari hit a single up the middle to plate courtesy runner Mo Imdakem (Vancouver) for what turned out to be the game-winning run.
 
Corban got on the scoreboard with a run in the fourth and added two more in the fifth. But after that, Lillis-White and closer Curtis Taylor (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) allowed just one Warriors runner to reach scoring position.
 
That was in the eighth when the visitors had men on first and second with one out. But Taylor struck out Nic Coffman and then induced a groundout to end the threat. He earned his 10th save of the season by throwing three shutout innings in all.
 
Enns and Biro ended the game with two hits each.
 
UBC will conclude the regular season next season in Lewiston, Idaho, against the Lewis-Clark State Warriors, the top team in the NAIA West Grouping.
 
The series will start with a doubleheader on Friday, beginning at 3 p.m. PT. The teams will play single games on Saturday (1 p.m.) and Sunday (11 a.m.).