VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds split their first two games at the Macon Bracket of the NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round Monday, beating fourth seed Huntington (Ind.) 7-5 before falling 4-1 to the top-ranked, defending national champion Southeastern (Fla.).
UBC, seeded fifth, will now have to win all of its remaining games in Macon, Ga., to advance to the Avista-NAIA World Series, beginning with a 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT contest against the loser of the matchup between Huntington and host Middle Georgia State, the second seed.
In the opening game, the Thunderbirds hit three solo home runs to go up 3-0 against the Foresters.
Mike Fitzsimmons led off the game with his second home run of the year, knocking a 3-1 pitch over the fence in left field.
Noah Or did the same in the third, hitting a 3-1 pitch for a home run to left, his second of the campaign.
Then in the fourth,
Jordan Dray knocked the ball out in center field for home run No. 7, which ties him with
Brandon Hupe for the team lead.
Huntington, however, replied with a four-run fifth inning to take a slim advantage. That lead held until the seventh, when the Thunderbirds posted three runs. Or's RBI double to left center brought home courtesy runner
Lichel Hirakawa-Kao to tie the game at 4-4. With two outs,
Jaxon Valcke knocked a single to right center to plate Or and
Ty Penner.
The Foresters closed to 6-5 by earning a bases-loaded walk in the home of the seventh.
Valcke added the insurance run in the ninth with a sacrifice fly to score Penner, who led off with a walk. It was Valcke's third RBI of the game.
Barry Caine, who got the final out of the eighth, retired the side in order in the ninth to earn the save.
James Bradwell got the win in relief of starter
Garrett Hawkins, who surrendered just one earned run in five innings of work.
Or went 3-for-5 batting for UBC, and scored two runs, as did Penner, who also drew a pair of walks.
The nightcap saw both pitchers – T-Bird
Niall Windeler (5-4) and Southeastern's Felix Dieguez (7-1) – post impressive performances.
Windeler needed just 89 pitches to complete eight innings. Dieguez allowed hits and an unearned run over eight, before Heibert Romero came on in the ninth to get the save.
Fitzsimmons opened the scoring for UBC in the third inning as he came home on a dropped popup.
The Fire replied in the bottom of the fourth, getting runners to second and third with no outs. However, Windeler got Dan Valerio to ground into a 6-4-3 double play, allowing just the one run to come across. He then struck out Abdel Guadalupe looking to end the inning.
Southeastern got the winning run in the sixth on a fielder's choice that allowed Manuel Mesa to touch home plate from third.
The Fire added two more runs in the seventh to put the game out of reach. Willie Estrada singled up the middle to plate two runs and make it 4-1.
Rookie
Liam Vulcano led the T-Birds' attack with two hits in three plate appearances. Dray and Valcke had the other hits for UBC.
