FAYETTE, Mo. – The UBC Thunderbirds (26-19, 16-11) were in tough in the first game of their NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Round adventure, as they faced off against the tournament hosts and No. 11 nationally-ranked Central Methodist Eagles (39-9, 21-3).
While they had some highlights over the seven innings, the T-Birds were unable to compile enough offence to pull the upset as they fell 4-1. Keona Nordquist scored UBC's lone run and also had two of her team's five hits.
Elizabeth Palumbo hit a perfect 3-3 at the plate for the Eagles, while Haley Cotter pitched a complete game to earn her 17th win of the season.
Playing in front of their home fans, the Eagles got off to a hot start with a leadoff walk and then two doubles from Palumbo and Madison Roberts. That staked Central Methodist out to a 2-0 lead, although Shae Sever and the rest of the T-Birds' defence got things more under control from there, recording outs on the next six Eagle at-bats.
UBC then cut the lead in half with a nice manufactured run in the top of the third. After Nordquist led off with a single, Kaitlyn Eng executed a sacrifice bunt that put her in scoring position. Sever then smacked a single straight up the middle, compounded by a fielding error from the centre fielder that helped Nordquist score unopposed.
Sever found herself in a jam in the bottom half of the inning, as the Eagles got runners on second and third with no outs as they tried to extend their lead right back. The UBC ace responded well, however, striking out three straight batters under pressure to escape intact.
Nordquist again got into scoring position in the fifth with a single before advancing on a groundout, but the T-Birds were unable to bring her home for the tie. The Eagles then immediately got another run on the board with an RBI single from Maddie Holly.
With bases loaded for Central Methodist and no outs, Jillian Matsubara made a couple of nice plays at third to keep the damage as limited as she could, fielding consecutive ground balls and firing them home for the force out. Carleen Murray – who came in to pitch at the beginning of the inning – then snagged a ball bouncing right back to her and flipped it to first for the third out.
The Eagles did manage to score again in the following inning, however, and they closed out a 4-1 victory in the first game of the Opening Round for both teams.
Just like in Klamath Falls last weekend, UBC now will have their backs against the wall on the second day of the tournament. They next face the Campbellsville Lady Tigers (27-17, 10-8) in an elimination game at 10:00 a.m. (PT) tomorrow. If they win, it'll be another do-or-die contest against either LSU Alexandria or Tennessee Southern later that afternoon.