The University of British Columbia Thunderbirds defeated host Concordia Cavaliers 5-2 in the deciding game of the NAIA West region baseball final on Monday in Portland, Oregon.
Throwing for the third time in four days, reliever Curtis Taylor held Concordia scoreless for the final four innings to earn the win, his second of the tournament.
“I’m proud of this team. Our most talented? No, but they carried on our championship expectations and mentality that has been built up over the years. A real gutsy team effort today,” said University of British Columbia head coach Terry McKaig.
The Cavaliers trailed by three runs in the top of the eighth inning but loaded the bases with no outs.
Taylor struck out the next batter on four pitches and then got the next up to ground into a double play.
The Thunderbirds bench erupted as they turned aside the threat.
Taylor came out for the ninth and retired the side in order.
UBC jumped out to a 4-0 lead and chased Concordia starter Quinn Eldridge from the mound.
In the bottom of the first, the Blue and Gold opened the scoring as Kevin Biro hit an RBI single through the right side to bring home left fielder Tyler Enns, who had led off the inning by drawing a walk.
Rookie third baseman Anthony Cusati of Burnaby made it 2-0 in the second, scoring on a Justin Orton sacrifice fly.
In the top of the fifth, Concordia threatened to score with runners on first and third and one out.
But UBC starting pitcher Tyler Gillies got the second out on a strikeout.
Senior Alex Graham then came in and got the following batter to fly out to keep the home side off the scoreboard.
In the bottom of the inning, Thunderbirds designated hitter Jerod Bartnik provided the game-winning hit with a two-run home run over the right field fence to make it 4-0. It was Bartnik’s team-leading ninth round-tripper of the season.
The Cavaliers got back into the game with a pair of runs in the top of the sixth.
Concordia loaded the bases with none out, and got its first run on a walk.
Taylor entered the game and struck out the next Concordia batter.
Taylor then gave up a sacrifice fly to right to reduce the Thunderbirds’ lead to 4-2, but got a force out at second on a fielder’s choice to keep UBC ahead.
The T-Birds added an insurance run in the bottom of the inning as Enns tripled down the right field line to bring home Orton.
Yari, Biro, Cusati and Orton all had two hits for the Thunderbirds, who advance to the NAIA World Series opening round, May 12 to 15, at a location to be determined.
Cusati was the hero of the day with a career-high three hits for UBC in a 5-3 win over Menlo in the opening round last Friday.
Cusati tripled home teammate Bryan Arthur with the game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth. Cusati scored later on a fielder’s choice.
“A freshman year in our program is not easy,” said McKaig, in a UBC press release. “You overcome a lot of adversity, so to see them deliver for us, it puts a smile on your face as a coach. (Cusati) was all fired up, you could tell with the slide and he was really emotional.”
Cusati batted .250 this season, registering 14 hits and 12 RBI in 24 starts.
Another Burnaby ballplayer, outfielder Griff Goyer, averaged .233 at the plate with 14 hits, including a pair of home runs this season.
The NAIA World Series will take place from May 22 to 29 in Lewiston, Idaho.
