HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The UBC Thunderbirds (38-17, 29-8) only needed six innings to drop 14 runs on the Indiana Southeast Grenadiers (31-16, 17-6), before they closed out a mercy rule win in the top half of the seventh.
Eight of those scores came in the fifth inning, when the already-leading T-Birds blew the game wide open. All nine starting batters either scored or drove in a run on the day, with both Kaden Zarowny and Kellen Bourne recording multiple in both categories.
David Draayers also had a three-hit game as the 'Birds made it 23 runs in the first two days of the NAIA Opening Round. That was more than enough support for the pitching crew of Ryan Heppner, Evan Hoegler and Adam Khan, who held in check a Grenadiers offence that had dropped 10 runs on tournament hosts William Carey the previous day.
This victory is a pivotal one, as it puts the Thunderbirds into the championship round of the Hattiesburg tournament and means they will have two chances to punch their ticket to the NAIA World Series.
With both teams knowing the massive stakes, the game got underway with a scoreless opening inning. That didn't last for long though, as in the bottom of the second Zarowny launched a three-run bomb to left field that put his team in front.
The Grenadiers fought back in the fourth with a pair of runs to make it a one-score ballgame, but that resurgence was short-lived as in the bottom half of the frame UBC hit right back with a two-spot of their own. This time it was Russell Young who fired a single up the middle that ended up scoring a pair due to a fielding error.
The real damage came, however, in the fifth. Up 5-3 heading into their half of the inning, the 'Birds proceeded to settle in for 14 at-bats and score a dizzying eight runs. A walk to Trent Lenihan and Aaron Marsh getting hit by a pitch got some runners aboard, and that's when the fun started.
At that point, the damage was done, and another RBI single from McGill the following inning pushed the lead out to 11. Desperate to avoid the mercy rule (10 run lead after seven innings) and keep the game going, the Grenadiers loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the seventh and managed to cash in one run.
Khan was then brought in to try and close out the game, and he struck out the first batter he faced. Perhaps fittingly in a game dominated by their offence, it was the UBC defence that got the job done on the final play, as Draayers fielded a ground ball at shortstop and kick-started a successful double play.
With the win, the Thunderbirds now will wait to see who joins them as one of the final two teams remaining in this NAIA Opening Round tournament. That will be decided when Indiana Southeast and Oklahoma Wesleyan (UBC's opponent in the tourney opener) battle tomorrow afternoon in an elimination game.
The victor will face the T-Birds for the second time this week a little later that same day. If the Thunderbirds win, they take the tournament and will head to the NAIA World Series for the first time since 2006. If they lose, there will be a rematch on Thursday in a winner-take-all showdown.
