Toronto Mets grad Niall Windeler (Toronto, Ont.) gained UBC's only win beating Middle Georgia State.

NAIA National Championships Opening Round

Loss 19-8 Judson (NAIA)

Win 4-3 Middle Georgia State (NAIA)

Loss 15-5 Judson (NAIA)

Overall Record: 29-26 Conference Record: 19-12

TOP PITCHERS:

So Niall Windeler 6 Inn, 2 Hits, 3 Runs, 2 Earned, 6 BB, 4 K’s

Langley Blaze 3B Mitch Robinson (Surrey, BC) homered for UBC.

TOP HITTERS:

Sr Mitch Robinson 6-13, 5 RBI, 4 R, 1 HR

Sr Anthony Cusati 4-11, 2 RBI

Fr Jaxon Valcke 4-11, 1 RBI, 1 R

COACHES COMMENTS:

The UBC Thunderbirds season comes to an end at the NAIA National Championship Opening Round in Lincoln, California. The Birds went 1-2 in the five-team double knockout tournament, halting the World Series run.

Braeden Allemann got the start in Game 1 versus Judson University who came out swinging. The Eagles scored seven runs in the first and continued to stay hot throughout the game, posting 19 runs on 20 hits. The Birds offence could never catch up although showing signs of life as well with 8 runs on 12 hits.

Whalley Chhiefs grad Braeden Allemann (Surrey, BC) delivered the game-winning hit.

Game 2 saw Niall Windeler matched up with Middle Georgia State in the first elimination game of the week. The game was tight throughout, and needed 10 innings to decide the victor. Braeden Allemann came up clutch in the bottom half of the 10th with a walk off sacrifice fly to keep the Birds alive.

Later in the day the Birds were seeking revenge against Judson University in elimination game. Unfortunately for the Thunderbirds the Judson bats were still hot as the game got out of hand early. The final score of 15-5 ended the season for the Birds who fought valiantly in both the Cal Pac Championship and the National Championship Opening Round.

A season of peaks and valleys, the UBC Thunderbirds finish the season with an overall record of 29-26, coming one step short of the NAIA World Series. Mitch Robinson led the Birds with a .361 AVG to go along with eight homers and 54 RBIs. Lucas Soper hit .308 and Anthony Cusati hit .306 in his final campaign. On the mound Niall Windeler was 5-3 with a 3.30 ERA and Pat Van Den Brink was 4-1 with a 4.13 ERA and 5 saves.

Langley Blaze grad SS Kyle McComb (Surrey, BC) earned gold glove honours.

The Birds were well represented on the Cascade All Conference team by; 3B Mitch Robinson, DH Braeden Allemann and P Niall Windeler. Receiving Gold Glove Awards were; SS Kyle McComb, 3B Mitch Robinson, and OF Austen Butler.

UBC ousted in NAIA opening round