LEWISTON, Ida. – It may not have been the journey that they wanted at the Avista NAIA World Series, but the UBC Thunderbirds (39-19, 29-8) have plenty to be proud of in their 2025 season.
The 39 wins are the most for a single year in nearly a decade, and the 'Birds travelled to the World Series for just the second time in program history after sweeping through their NAIA Opening Round tournament in impressive fashion.
After losing to the No. 2 ranked team in the entire NAIA in their first game this weekend, the T-Birds had their backs against the wall when they faced off against the No. 13 ranked (and No. 7 seed at the tournament) Loyola University New Orleans Wolf Pack (42-17, 20-10).
Both teams were certainly energized in the win-or-go-home battle, and it was an action-packed offensive showdown with a 12-9 scoreline and a combined 34 hits between the two teams.
Despite the loss, a number of Thunderbirds had strong performances. The trio of
Kyle Yip,
David Krahn and
David Draayers all recorded three or more hits on the day, with Krahn tallying three RBI and Yip scoring three runs himself.
Jonny McGill hit UBC's lone home run of the tournament early on in the game, part of the constantly swinging pendulum of momentum.
The scoring was constant throughout, with at least one of the two teams scoring a run in every inning except the second. The opening frame featured five, although four of them came on the side of Loyola.
After UBC took an early lead with pinch-runner
Jackson Boomer scoring off an RBI groundout from
Trent Lenihan, the Wolf Pack got themselves going with a solo homer from Brandon Mooney. An RBI on a fielder's choice sandwiched by two run-scoring singles continued their early momentum and gave UBC a hole to try and climb out of.
McGill aimed to do just that, launching his 18th bomb of the season in the top of the third to make it a one-run game after
Kaden Zarowny led off with a double.
Mitchell Middlemiss then hit a double of his own soon after, and he tied the game when Yip smacked a ball straight up the middle.
Krahn followed that up with an RBI single of his own on the next pitch, firing a ball to left. The speedy Yip was able to come home unchallenged, giving his team another lead that lasted until the bottom half of that same inning. That's when Loyola scored again to make it 10 runs between the two sides just a third of the way through the game.
A solo home run from Anthony Fernandez the following frame put the Wolf Pack back in front, as they soon stretched their advantage to 8-5 heading into the fifth.
Looking for a response, Krahn again brought home Yip with a near carbon copy of his hit from the third inning. He then AGAIN scored Yip in the seventh, this time with a wall-hitting double to right-centre. Krahn crossed home plate himself on an RBI single from Draayers, making it 9-8 in favour of the Louisiana outfit.
Again though, the Wolf Pack continued to counter-punch every time UBC got some momentum going. They put up another two of their own in the bottom half of the frame, making it a three-run lead once again.
Mooney thought he had his second solo homer of the game in the eighth as he looked to add to the lead, but after a lengthy video review it was ruled to be a ground rule double instead. He did though end up scoring a couple batters later on a sacrifice fly, putting a ton of pressure on the T-Birds going into the ninth.
Needing a massive comeback in the final frame, the beginning was good with Krahn and Draayers getting on base to start the inning. Unfortunately, things unraveled from there with a double play (that did score one run) and then a flyout that ended the game at 12-9.
The defeat – their second of the tournament – means that the Thunderbirds are eliminated from World Series contention. There's plenty to be proud of for this squad, however, as they end the year as regular season conference champs for the first time since 2010 and one of the ten World Series finalists for the first time since 2006.
