The weekend of the 26 & 27 April 2008, saw the spiring leg of the Drunken Cup take place at the University of East Anglia in Norwich. Teams from UEA and Southampton were present along with defending champions the Nottingham Thieves. The competition took place over two days, on two pitches utilising a round robin format, with an eventual tournament final. Day one saw possibly one of the most tense and marvelous games in recent cup memory. With hosts UEA taking on holders Nottingham, no one expected what was about to unfold.
Nottingham took an early lead off UEA starter Shing Kwok, but found themselves limited by the defensive capabilities of a much improved Blue Sox side. The defense paid off for UEA who soon regained the lead. Solid single hitting from the Blue Sox lineup put pressure on Thieves southapaw Adam Brown, but the veteran leftie got himself out of a jam to limit the Sox to only a one run advantage. The game continued to jostle between the sides, each trying to eek an advantage from the other. As the game entered the seventh and final inning, the Thieves trailed 3-4 and nneded to put a run on the board to stay in the game and perhaps the tournament. And put a run on the board they did, tieing the game up in the last. UEA could not respond as Brown managed to shut down the hitters when it mattered. The game was called a tie due to time constarints, but this was probably the result that both teams had earned, as neither had deserved to lose. In the parallel game on pitch 2, the Southampton Mustangs sailed past their hometown rivals the Colts to win comfortably. UEA took on the Colts and the Mustangs played the Thieves in the second round of matches on day one. UEA sailed through their game, knocking the Colts out of the tournament in the process. The Mustangs also cruised in their match-up. Wayward Thieves pitching allowed Southampton to put 14 on the board, with Nottingham only managing 4. Going into day two it looked as the the final sides had already been decided. UEA had won one and tied one, and the Mustangs found themselves 2-0. For the Thieves to have any hope of qualifying for the final game, UEA would have to lose to Southampton and Nottingham would have to beat the Colts by more than 16 runs. The night time festivities did the Thieves a world of good, as the game out all guns blazing on day 2. They rocketted runs all over the park against the Colts, eventually running out 21-1 winners, with pitcher George Lintern allowing only one hit across six innings. UEA could not find the form they had been utilising the day before and although they took an early lead against Southampton, the Mustangs turned to ace Lee Ralph to shut down the Sox offense. He was successful as Southampton completed a sweep, wining 11-4 in the end. Nottingham therefore were to play the Mustangs in the final, with UEA taking on the Colts in the 3/4 playoff. The final was a trully memorable affair. Ralph was agian givien the mound, his third appearance of the cup, and Tatasuya Yogo made the start for the Thieves. Nottingham took the lead in the first inning and held on throughout to claim victory. It was not an easy win though. In the last inning Yogo managed to load the bases, with none out and a 3-0 count against him, somehow he managed to induce a pop-out, a pick-off and a line-out to work his way out of the inning, gifting the Thieves a 6-4 victory and the cup in the process. It was a weekend to remember, and showed the huge strides in quality that have been made in UK university baseball. Lets all hope next is bigger and better than this! | 
