After qualifying for the elimination rounds following pool play, the University of Toronto Varsity Blues baseball team reached the Final Four of the Canadian National University Championship in Ottawa falling just shy of the gold medal match.

Finishing third in Pool A, the Blues first matches up with the Laurier Golden Hawks in an all-OUA quarter-final on Saturday (Oct. 24) morning. In a thrilling contest between the two familiar opponents, U of T would come out on top with a 12-11 victory to advance to the national semifinals. Toronto would then face off against the host Carleton Ravens, seeing their season come to a close after an 11-4 defeat.

CNUC QUARTER-FINAL: TORONTO 12, LAURIER 11
A back-and-forth slugfest which saw both teams utilize five different pitchers throughout the seven-inning showdown, a six-run sixth inning would prove to be the difference for Toronto. Four different U of T batters recorded multiple hits in the win, including a team-high 4-for-5 outing for Diego Fuentes who added two RBI and three runs to his stat line. Meanwhile, Ryan Hsu drove in the most runs finishing 3-for-4 with five RBI and one run. On the mound, Ricky Klimaszewski earned the win while Elias Rubio-Reyes picked up the save.

CNUC SEMIFINAL: TORONTO 4, CARLETON 11
Clearly showing exhaustion from the epic contest earlier in the day, U of T struggled to convert hits into runs against the host Ravens. Meanwhile, Carleton scored in five straight innings to build up what would become an insurmountable lead. Kirk Gibson went a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate, scoring one RBI and one run. Rubio-Reyes also notched multiple hits going 2-for-3 with one run. Three more Blues pitchers were relied on, but the trio would concede eight earned runs in the hard fought semifinal.