OKLAHOMA CITY – When Jessica Heutink stepped to the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning, there was one out, a runner on first base and a tie game.
One swing of the bat later, and it was over.
The fourth-year star's double down the right field line allowed first-year standout Tegan Harnett to race all the way to home plate, earning UBC (31-22, 15-9) a walk-off win over the Oklahoma City Stars (50-9, 32-4), an NAIA Championship Opening Round tournament victory, and a spot in next week's NAIA World Series.
"I'm so proud and happy, not only for the players involved in the immediate play, but all of the time and the energy the entire team and coaches and support staff put in to be able to accomplish something that only one team at our Opening Round tournament is able to do," said a jubilant Jennifer McKellar, UBC head coach. "The fact that they did it with so many different contributors, it was just so special. We had so much faith we could do it, so it's such a rewarding moment for the entire program."
While there was one play that ended the game, every Thunderbird on the field delivered a poised, complete performance, every bit of which was needed to defeat the Stars – the No. 5 ranked team in the NAIA – on their own field for the second time this week.
There was Carleen Murray, who returned to the mound for her fourth game in four days, making it 26 innings and 392 pitches thrown at the tournament while allowing just three runs in that span.
There was centre fielder Marin Jorgenson, who gunned down a baserunner at home plate for the final out of the second inning, followed by catcher Kennedy Laird ending the next inning by firing a laser to Mattea Burrill to snuff out a stolen base attempt.
There was the unique double play in the top of seventh, when Jillian Matsubara fielded a weak ground ball at third and fired it to Heutink at first, who then threw it right back to Matsubara as she ran to her bag to tag out a runner trying to sneak her way to third, keeping the score tied.
There was Harnett – who hit 3-4 on the day and a blistering 10-17 in the Opening Round as a whole – getting herself on base again in the bottom half of the seventh with another single, setting up the final heroics from Heutink.
All of that and more coalesced into the biggest win in UBC Softball history, with the T-Birds now standing as one of 10 teams who will travel to Columbus, Georgia to battle for the NAIA national championship.
Reaching the World Series for the first time ever was never going to be easy, with the Thunderbirds needing to bounce back from yesterday's blowout loss to the same Stars team, who'd seemed to have hit their stride with 24 runs in their previous two games.
But with Murray and the defence around her playing at such a high level, the decorated Oklahoma City side were held scoreless through the first four innings, only getting three hits during that time.
"Man our defence today was outstanding, which is something we've relied on all year" said McKellar. "There were so many amazing defensive plays behind Carleen, let alone Carleen's performance. That just speaks to a key part of our game throughout this season. It's cool that the offence got to showcase in the fancy moments, but it was our defence that set that up for us."
The most nervy moments came in the fifth, when a walk and a couple of singles loaded the bases for the Stars with zero outs. A wild pitch then allowed McKenna Snyder to open the scoring, with the hosts threatening to blow the game wide open.
But the T-Birds were able to escape the jam, with Heutink making a great backhand grab on a hard line drive for the first out, before Murray recorded a strikeout and then forced a fly ball to Ava Bromley in right field to keep the score at 1-0.
Brielle Donoghue then brought the T-Birds level in their half of the fifth with some strong baserunning – reaching first on a bobbled ball in the infield, second on a Jorgenson sacrifice bunt, and third on a Harnett single to left field where she needed all of her speed to beat out an attempted tag. She didn't hesitate for a second when Heutink chopped a grounder to the OCU second baseman, crossing the plate with ease to make it 1-1.
Both teams got a runner in scoring position in the sixth inning but were unable to cash in, setting up the dramatic finale in the seventh.
When Harnett crossed home plate it marked the 31st win of the season for UBC, four more than last year's previously record-setting total. It's also their fifth win of the season against opponents ranked in the top five of the NAIA, in addition to their victory over No. 16 Grand View two days ago.
There will be only top-tier teams remaining on the schedule, with the Thunderbirds and the other nine NAIA World Series competitors beginning play in Georgia on Thursday, May 21. The double elimination tournament runs until Wednesday, May 27.