The University of Toronto Varsity Blues baseball team booked their ticket to the OUA championship gold medal game with an 11-5 semifinal victory over the Waterloo Warriors on Friday (Oct.10) morning at Bechtel Park in Waterloo.

The Blues have now qualified for the provincial final in five consecutive seasons, while also looking to complete a three-peat after claiming the OUA banner in both 2023 and 2024. A victory tomorrow would mark a ninth OUA championship in program history dating back to 2001.

Versus the host Warriors on Friday, U of T converted 11 hits and three Waterloo errors into 11 runs. The pivotal point proved to be a four-run eighth inning where the Blues were able to finally pull far enough away from the Warriors to diminish any hope of a comeback effort from the host team.

Second-year outfielder Diego Fuentes and third-year second baseman Ryan Hsu each registered three hits in the win for U of T. Fuentes finished the early morning semifinal with a line of 3-for-6, knocking in three RBI while also crossing the plate twice himself. Meanwhile, Hsu went 3-for-5 with one RBI and two runs.

On the mound, fourth-year pitcher Ethan Kwong was awarded the win after going 6.2 innings, conceding seven hits, two walks and just three earned runs to the Warriors. First-year pitcher Armin Najmaie was outstanding in relief, striking out three Waterloo batters and allowing just one hit across the final two innings.

U of T will next head to Jack Couch Park in Kitchener tomorrow (Oct. 11) for the OUA championship gold medal game. They will face-off against the winner of the other semifinal, the Carleton Ravens. First pitch for the gold medal game is scheduled for 2 p.m. The game will be streamed live on oua.tv.