VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds showed resilience but ultimately saw their season come to an end Tuesday in the Lincoln Bracket of the 2018 NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round at McBean Park in Lincoln, Calif.
 
The fourth-seeded Thunderbirds split a pair of elimination games Tuesday, keeping their season alive with a 4-3 extra-inning win over the Middle Georgia State Knights to start the day before falling to the Judson (Ill.) Eagles 15-5 in the afternoon.
 
UBC's contest against second-seeded Middle Georgia State, the 12th-ranked team in the NAIA, went to the 10th inning with the score tied 2-2.
 
MGSU went up 3-2 on a Blake Jackson sacrifice fly to score MJ Rookard.
 
In the home half of the 10th, T-Bird Jake Lanferman led off with an infield single, which was followed by an Anthony Cusati single to right field. After a fly out, Mitch Robinson tied the game with a single to shallow left-center to score pinch runner Shane Rogers. Cusati moved to third base on the play, setting the stage for Braeden Allemann, who delivered with a sacrifice fly to center to plate Cusati for the game-winning run.
 
The T-Birds entered extra innings with just three hits but came up big in the clutch with three hits in the 10th inning.
 

Reliever Patrick van den Brink (4-1) got the win after throwing the final 2.1 innings. UBC ace Niall Windeler made the start and threw 7.2 innings. He surrendered just four hits and a pair of runs to a team that entered the day ranked second in total hits and fifth in runs scored in the entire NAIA.
 
The Thunderbirds opened the scoring against the Knights thanks to an Allemann double to right field that scored Robinson, who got hit by a pitch with two outs.
 
MGSU replied in the top of the second inning with a Mikal Flores RBI groundout to level the score at 1-1.
 
UBC re-claimed the lead in the bottom of the second on a Lanferman RBI groundout that allowed Jaxon Valcke to come home. The T-Birds held the advantage until the top of the fifth when Zach Cornell drew a walk with two outs and the bases loaded. But Windeler recovered to strike out the next batter, Jackson, to end the threat and keep the game tied.
 
Valcke and John Whaley had the other hits for UBC, while Anthony Olson drew two walks.
 
The victory ended the 2018 season for the Knights and sent the T-Birds to another elimination game later on Tuesday.
 
UBC fell behind 5-0 after three innings against Judson. 
 
Whaley got the T-Birds on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth inning with a two-out single to shallow right field to bring home Lucas Soper, who led off with a single.
 
UBC continued to close the gap. Justin Orton opened the fifth with a single, and Zach Prisciak followed up with a walk. Kyle McComb bunted them over to third and second, respectively. Lanferman then drove in Orton an RBI groundout, which also moved Olson to third. Olson then cut the UBC deficit to 5-3 by scoring on a wild pitch.
 

The Eagles responded with a Cullen Mayhew home run to left field to make it 6-3.
 
Another two runs – this time in the seventh – allowed the T-Birds to edge closer. Prisciak singled to left to start things off. Olson pinch ran for him and proceeded to steal second. Soper earned a walk to put runners on first and second. Both runners touched home plate after Robinson knocked a two-RBI double to left-center field.
 
Unfortunately for UBC, that was as close as the team would get.
 
Judson's David Matthews hit a home run to left in the bottom of the seventh. Then the Eagles posted eight more runs in the eighth to close out the game.
 
In his final game as a T-Bird, Robinson went 2-for-5 at the plate with a couple of runs batted in. Fellow senior Olson scored a pair of runs as did Soper, who also drew two walks.
 
UBC finishes the 2017-18 season with a record of 29-26 (19-12 in NAIA West play), and an appearance in the NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round for the fourth time in five campaigns.
 

#BASE: The @ubctbirds have been eliminated from the opening round of the NAIA World Series in a 15-5 loss to the Judson University Eagles. UBC finished the season with a 29-26 record. Thank you to our seniors for your contributions and sacrifices to the program #ubc #baseball pic.twitter.com/a3cZhXABdb

— UBC Baseball (@ubc_baseball) May 16, 2018

Seniors Allemann, Cusati, McComb, Olson, Orton, Robinson, Whaley, Christian Botnick, Daniel Koo and Brad Smith will all depart the T-Birds' program and join the ranks of UBC baseball alumni.