Ramping up for the start of the regular season, the University of Toronto Varsity Blues baseball team played host for six exhibition games at Dan Land Field over the Labour Day long weekend.

Opening with a doubleheader against the Humber Hawks on Friday (Aug. 29), U of T split the day versus the OCAA standouts with a 5-0 loss and 8-7 victory.

Tied in the seventh inning of the later contest, Jalen Worthen hit a sacrifice fly to walk-off Game 2. First-year Max Hernandez also made his presence known with a two run home run, while fellow first-year Haven Tai went 2-for-2 with an RBI and run. On the mound for the Game 2 win, second-year pitcher Kenny Leung delivered three scoreless innings for the Blues, limiting the Hawks offence with five strikeouts.

Shifting to the remainder of the weekend, U of T hosted several OUA teams for the annual Varsity Blues Labour Day Classic. Across the two days Toronto defeated Laurier 2-1 and Brock 10-8, before falling 3-2 and 9-2 in back-to-back games versus Brock.

Pitching was a highlight of the tournament opener as Patrick Stasyszyn allowed just one run across five innings striking out four Golden Hawks. Kirk Gibson and Marcos Santos recorded an RBI each in the tightly contested victory.
In a more offensive matchup versus the Badgers, U of T saw four different players in Gibson, Santos, Ryan Hsu, and Jackson Gannett each record two RBI. Gibson led the way with a perfect 3-for-3 outing, including a key double.

On Sunday, the Blues received excellent pitching from first-year pitcher Matthew Clarke. The freshman delivered five solid innings, allowing just one earned run while striking out four. However, the hot-bats from the day prior cooled off allowing the Gaels to squeak out the early morning win.

Queen's maintained the momentum in the final game of the weekend accruing 12 hits in just five innings. Santos did what he could for the Blues with another strong outing at the plate going 2-for-3, while Gibson knocked in another two RBI.

U of T will remain at Dan Lang Field for another weekend as they open their regular season with back-to-back doubleheaders versus the Carleton Ravens and Ottawa Gee-Gees. First pitch for both Saturday (Sept. 6) against the Ravens and Sunday (Sept. 7) versus the Gee-Gees is scheduled for 11 a.m.