OKLAHOMA CITY – Entering their five-team NAIA Softball Championship Opening Round tournament as the No. 4 seed, the UBC Thunderbirds (29-21, 15-9) proceeded to win two Opening Round games for the first time in team history, broke the program's single-season record for wins (again), and defeated top-five nationally ranked Oklahoma City University – the most decorated program in NAIA Softball history – the first time the Stars have ever lost their first game of an Opening Round tournament.
In short, it was a pretty good day.
Amongst many great performances on the side of the Thunderbirds, the one that shone the brightest was that of star pitcher Carleen Murray, who threw all 14 innings on the day. Delivering 213 pitches over the two games combined, the fourth-year ace racked up an incredible 20 strikeouts while allowing just one run on five hits and two walks.
On the offensive end, nine different T-Birds recorded either a run scored or an RBI, led by Jessica Heutink who had two RBIs and a run on consecutive plays to open the scoring in UBC's first game of the day.
GAME ONE
Those aforementioned Heutink highlights came against the Williams Baptist Lady Eagles (41-14, 17-1), in a game that was scoreless up until the fifth inning. The T-Birds were able to put on some offensive pressure throughout – getting six runners on base in the first four innings including loading the bases in the first – but just weren't able to get the crucial hits with runners in scoring position.
That changed in that fifth inning, which proved to be UBC's biggest offensive outburst of the day. After a trio of singles from Marin Jorgenson, Brielle Donoghue and Tegan Harnett methodically loaded the bases, Heutink brought two of them home with a stand-up double smacked to right-centre.
Harnett and Heutink then took advantage of a Williams Baptist throwing error on a ground ball off the bat of Zoe Willington, with both players scoring as Willington charged all the way to third. A Kennedy Laird RBI single made it 5-0, putting UBC in complete control.
A Harnett RBI single the following inning added a final bit of insurance, not that Murray needed it as she struck out 15 of the 25 batters she faced. The defence behind her did their part as well, as they refrained from committing a single error.
The win was the Thunderbirds' 28th of the year, breaking the program's single-season record for the third campaign in a row, with the opportunity to extend it further just a few hours later.
GAME TWO
The blue and gold faced a very tough test in their second game, in the form of a fresh Oklahoma City (47-8, 32-4) side on their home turf – although the game was technically on a neutral site and the T-Birds ended up with "home field" in terms of batting order.
The No. 1 seed for the tournament, the Stars were frustrated by another elite performance by the pitcher-catcher duo of Murray and Laird, with the hosts only managing to get runners on base in one of the first five innings.
That came in the top of the third, when a pair of early hits put runners on second and third with two outs. With Oklahoma City threatening to break the 0-0 scoreline, batter Iliana Ashford chopped a weak ground ball down the third base line. Thankfully, Jillian Matsubara was quick to grab it and threw to first with expert precision to escape the inning.
The T-Birds had just one hit themselves off Stars' ace Brynlee Alsip entering the fifth, but that's when they found their breakthrough. It was Matsubara who led things off with a single straight up the middle, before a passed ball put her in scoring position.
Expertly working a full count, Laird then smashed a ball that – while hit right towards the Stars' shortstop – had too much heat for the Oklahoma City defender to handle. With the ball finding its way into the outfield, Matsubara's aggressive baserunning allowed her to round third and score the first run of the evening.
After Laird got to third thanks to another errant pitch, pinch-hitter Clare VanSpall brought her home with a looping single that dropped mere inches in front of the Oklahoma City centre fielder. That helped set up a dramatic finish in the seventh, with the Stars needing two runs to force extras.
Things became quite nervy at the death, with the Stars getting two runners in scoring position with just one out. A Jessica Phares sacrifice fly provided the first run against UBC on the day, but another fly ball to right field on the next at-bat was caught by Jorgenson to secure the dramatic win.
On a day with 10 Opening Round tournaments happening simultaneously across the United States, the Thunderbirds joined Marian University as the only teams to defeat a No. 1 seed on the first day of play, following the Knights' 1-0 victory over William Carey University in Mississippi.
UBC now faces another very tough test in the form of the Oklahoma tournament's No. 2 seed, the Grand View Vikings (38-16, 20-8). Coming off a 2-1 win over Blue Mountain Christian in their tournament opener, the Vikings square off against the T-Birds at 2:00 p.m. (PT) on Tuesday in a game with massive stakes.
Should the Thunderbirds win, they'll advance to the tournament final and be guaranteed two chances to punch their ticket to the NAIA World Series. But if they lose, they'll be forced onto the opposite side of the bracket and will need to win three games in a row if they are to claim the crown.