The Thunderbirds were clutch in all facets of the game in defeating the host Concordia Cavaliers 5-2 in the second-and-deciding matchup of the NAIA West region final on Monday afternoon in Portland, Oregon.
Throwing for the third time in four days, reliever Curtis Taylor (4-2) 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 were down 5-2 in the top of the eighth inning but loaded the bases with no outs. Taylor struck out the next batter Hunter Weiss on four pitches and then got Cole Crosby to ground into a double play as UBC shortstop Kevin Biro got the ball over to second baseman Justin Orton, who threw over to Bruce Yari at first.
The Thunderbirds bench erupted as they turned aside the threat.
Taylor came out for the ninth and retired the side in order, commencing the championship celebration at the pitcher's mound.
UBC jumped out to a 4-0 lead and chased Concordia starter Quinn Eldridge out of the game.
In the bottom of the first, the Blue and Gold opened the scoring as 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 after scoring on an Orton sacrifice fly.
In the top of the fifth, Concordia threatened to score by placing runners on first and third with one out. UBC starting pitcher Tyler Gillies got the second out by fanning Trent Calmer. Senior Alex Graham then came in and induced a fly out from Jordan Spencer to keep the home side off the scoreboard.
Then in the bottom of the inning, Thunderbirds designated hitter Jerod Bartnik provided the winning hit with a two-run home run over the right field fence to make it 4-0. It was team-leading ninth round-tripper of the season.
The Cavaliers got right back into the game with a pair of runs in the top of the sixth, but it could have been much worse for UBC.
Concordia loaded the bases with no outs, and got its first run on a walk. Taylor then entered the game to spell off Graham and immediately struck out pinch hitter Corbin Henderson. The next batter, Weiss, hit a sacrifice fly to right to reduce the Thunderbirds' lead to 4-2, but Taylor got a force out at second on a fielder's choice to keep UBC ahead.
The team 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. The opening round pairings will be announced via a video show on Friday afternoon.
The NAIA World Series will take place May 22-29 in Lewiston, Idaho.
