Columbus, GA - The No.10-seed UBC Thunderbirds (31-23, 15-9) made program history on Thursday in the program's first-ever appearance at the NAIA World Series in Columbus, Georgia, but were edged 4-3 by a familiar foe in fellow Cascade Collegiate Conference member, the College of Idaho Yotes (37-20, 13-12). After a quiet start offensively, the T-Birds pieced together some timely hitting to establish a three-run lead, yet the Yotes surged late and scored four unanswered runs in the final two innings to seal the comeback victory.
UBC's ace
Carleen Murray, who's coming off four straight wins and boasted a 1.29 ERA over 194.2 IP throughout the season, anchored her squad from the start in this one. Taking to the circle for the team's opening tournament game, the hurler wasted no time in striking out the side in the bottom of the first – marking three of her eight punch outs on the evening.
Both sides struggled to find fair ground in the opening frames, garnering multiple baserunners in scoring position via walks or errors, but neither squad could translate them into runs.
That changed in the middle innings as the UBC bats came alive. After back-to-back singles and an error handed the 'Birds a 1-0 lead in the fourth, UBC looked to build on their momentum in the fifth. A trio of singles loaded the bases for the blue and gold, before
Jillian Matsubara stepped up and worked a full-count walk to tack on another tally for her squad.
Kennedy Laird followed and, already with a hit on the day, made solid contact to launch one to centre field, providing time and space to score another on a sacrifice fly and establish a 3-0 lead by the end of the frame.
The Yotes needed little time to respond as they mirrored the 'Birds by loading the bases with a pair of singles and an error to lead off the bottom half of the fifth. Next up was Idaho's Marti Anderson, who blasted a two-strike double down the right field line to clear the bases, evening the score at three apiece in the blink of an eye. Murray settled things down shortly after by inducing a pair of groundouts and a punchout to end the frame and the threat. However, the Yotes weren't done there. They quickly moved a baserunner in scoring position early in the bottom of the sixth when Hallie Campbell turned on the first pitch she saw and delivered an RBI single to deep right centre for the go-ahead run.
UBC had three outs to work with in the seventh, and battled on every pitch. Each batter put the ball in play but found gloves instead of fair ground as the Yotes held on for the 4-3 win.
With the loss, the T-Birds' World Series hopes remain alive, but their road just got a little longer amidst the the tournament's double-elimination format, meaning another loss would end UBC's season.
Their journey continues on Friday as they will face the No. six seed University of Cumberlands Patriots (40-20, 12-6), with first pitch set for 10:00 a.m. PT at the South Commons Complex in Columbus, Georgia.
Catch the action on the UEN livestream:
https://urbanedgenetwork.net/watch/13095
