FAYETTE, Mo. – The incredible 2025 season for the UBC Softball program has come to an end.
The UBC Thunderbirds (27-20, 16-11) kept their playoff run going with an extra innings win over the Campbellsville Lady Tigers (27-18, 10-8), before they fell to the Tennessee Southern Firehawks (32-20, 14-12) in their second do-or-die game of the day.
There is certainly much to be proud of for this group of T-Birds, who became the first team in program history to make it to the NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Round, while also setting UBC records for wins (27) and winning percentage (.574) in a season.
The battle against Campbellsville was the third extra innings game of the postseason for the Thunderbirds, and their second walk-off win for a team that found a flair for the dramatics late in the season.
The game somehow managed to feature a combined 22 hits but just three runs, as the two sides left a total of 25 runners on base between them over 10 innings. Shae Sever and Jillian Matsubara both had three-hit performances, with Matsubara scoring the winning run.
Playing the Firehawks later that afternoon, the T-Birds actually out-hit their opponents 10-7 but were unable to capitalize on enough of their opportunities as they lost 4-1. Kaitlyn Kim hit 3-4 while rookie catcher Zoe Willington had her first multi-hit game of her young career.
GAME ONE
The Lady Tigers struck first in the opening game of the day, with a Rylee Warner RBI single in the top of the first giving them a 1-0 lead.
Aiming for an immediate answer back, UBC got some runners on in the bottom half of the frame with a single from Sever followed by a double from Kim. However, they were unable to bring either of them home.
The T-Birds did manage to tie the game in the third, on a single from Kim that looped straight over the second baseman's head and nestled into the outfield. Kaitlyn Eng raced all the way from second to score, as the T-Birds looked to grab the momentum in the game.
The defence followed suit, with Marin Jorgenson making a great diving catch in right field in the top half of the fourth to quell a potential response from the Lady Tigers. After allowing a couple of hits and the run in the first inning, Carleen Murray then allowed just five hits over the next six innings with six strikeouts.
The Thunderbirds, meanwhile, were able to get at least one runner on base in each inning, but were unable to score any more runs within the allotted seven inning period. That took the game to extras, the third time that the blue and gold played an eighth inning this postseason.
Flashing ahead to the 10th, the T-Birds loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom half of the frame, with a Matsubara single followed by a pair of walks drawn by Brielle Donoghue and Keona Nordquist. That brought up Eng, who fired a ground ball towards the second baseman, who bobbled it enough to be unable to make a play in time, allowing Matsubara to scamper home for the walk-off win!
Sever earned the W on the mound, pitching 2.2 innings in relief after Murray threw the first 7.1. She allowed just two hits in the extra innings.
GAME TWO
Facing off against Tennessee Southern just a few hours later, Sever started at pitcher and continued her strong form from the first game of the day, retiring the first seven batters she faced.
Firehawks' pitcher Ella Singletary also started well, however, and the score remained deadlocked at 0-0 until the third. At that point it was Tennessee Southern who took the lead, on a slow grounder off the bat of Lauren Pettie. Nordquist fielded it well at shortstop and fired it to first, but the ball arrived a millisecond after the speedy Pettie touched the bag, scoring a runner instead of ending the inning.
The T-Birds' misfortune continued with a very similar play right after, but this time at second where the defence was again just a fraction too late for the force out, giving up another run. By the time UBC reached the bottom half of the third it was 3-0, giving them a hole they needed to climb out of.
They began that climb right away, with Sever rocketing a double off the wall that scored Nordquist all the way from first base. There was then the chance to tie the score the following inning with runners on second and third with just one out, but a strikeout and pop-up ended that potential rally.
The Thunderbirds again put the pressure on in the fifth, loading the bases, but were again left wanting as the Firehawks just barely clung to their two-run advantage. The squad from the south made the T-Birds pay for not getting more runs on the board by scoring another themselves in the top of the seventh, and they closed out a 4-1 victory.
After playing their ninth playoff game in 12 days, the Thunderbirds will now head home with their heads held high. Coach Jennifer McKellar and her team will have plenty of momentum to build on heading into the offseason and will aim to keep pushing for new heights in 2026.