LAKELAND, Fla. – The NAIA No.24-ranked UBC Thunderbirds (39-15) built a big lead early and hung on late, surviving a ninth inning surge to defeat the No.11-ranked Milligan University (TN) Buffaloes 6-4 in the first game of the 2026 NAIA Baseball Opening Round.
UBC scored all six of its runs in the first three innings, and conceded two of the four against them in a tense bottom of the ninth that ended with the tying run on first.
Overall, the T-Birds were outhit 12-8 by the Buffaloes, but conceded only one extra base knock, and drew eight walks to the Buffaloes' one. A big difference was also defence, where the blue and gold were rock solid, while their opponents made four errors.
The meat of UBC's order came through when it counted, with two-three hitters Braeden Scott and David Krahn both picking up multiple hits and driving in a run, Scott also scoring.
The 'Birds were patient and opportunistic in building a big early lead.
UBC took advantage of a pair of Milligan errors to scratch across a run in the first before stacking three walks and two singles, along with another key error, to score four more in the second. The last run of the inning came on a heady play by third baseman Krahn, who intentionally got hung up between first and second base on a delayed steal to allow Braeden Scott to score from third.
The T-Birds added another tally in the third on a bases loaded walk by Lou Fujiwara, going up 6-0 on the strength of two singles and a stunning eight walks through three innings.
Staked to a big lead, 'Birds' ace Will Anderson cruised through the minimum over three innings, immediately erasing the only baserunner he allowed with a double play. He would go on to scatter four hits over 5.1 shutout innings, racking up six strikeouts while not walking a batter.
Immediately after Anderson left the game, the Buffaloes did find a bit of offence, stringing together three singles and a sac fly to score two runs in the bottom of the sixth, cutting the T-Birds' lead to 6-2.
The score held from there until the bottom of the ninth, when Milligan made things interesting, to say the least.
A walk, single, and walk loaded the bases with two outs, bringing the tying run to the plate. That prompted the blue and gold to turn to closer Lucas Huynh. With the count full to Buffaloes' catcher and three-hitter Cade Kalehuawehe, Huynh got the ground ball he was looking for, but it snuck through the infield on the right side to score two runs, putting the tying run on first and bringing the winning run to the plate.
Huynh then went to battle with cleanup hitter Brody Melton and, despite falling behind 2-0, battled back to draw a lazy fly ball to right to end the ball game.
The victory puts the 'Birds on the winners' side of the bracket, set to square off against the winner of No.1 seed Southeastern and No.4 seed Faulkner at 11:00 a.m. (PT) on Tuesday.