series against the Adelaide Bite, the Brisbane Bandits prevailed 7–4. In front of 2,242 fans, Bralin Jackson opened the scoring with a homer off Bite starting pitcher Josh Tols in the bottom of the 1st innings. Donald Lutz, Mitch Nilsson and TJ Bennett combined to drive in the four runs at the bottom of the 3rd innings and the Bandits retained the advantage to win Game 1. On a wet Saturday night for Game 2, Brisbane ran out 7-1 winners in front of 2,417 fans to claim the Claxton Shield for the first time. Starting pitcher Travis Blackley struck out Adelaide's Stefan Welch on a full count with runners on second and third base when the game was still scoreless in the third innings. Donald Lutz scored a three-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the 3rd innings to start the Brisbane offense. It all ended with an out from closer Ryan Searle, caught by outfielder Justin Williams, after Searle's 17 saves in the regular season. 2016-17 season Brisbane finished the regular season in third position with a record of 21 wins and 18 losses. The Bandits earned their place in the playoffs by defeating the Canberra Cavalry 3–1 at The Fort at MIT Ballpark (Narrabundah Ballpark) in the last round of the regular season. After an 8–5 win and a 1–4 loss in the first two matches against the Cavalry, Brisbane won the third match 5–4 in extra innings before a crushing 11–2 victory in the final match to claim their spot in the playoffs. The Bandits faced Adelaide Bite in the best-of-three Preliminary Final series. Brisbane prevailed 3–1 in Game 1 in Adelaide, with Bandits starting pitcher Justin Eramus allowing just one run and one hit over 5.2 complete innings. In Game 2 in Brisbane, the match went to extra innings with Adelaide plating four runs in the 12th innings to take the series to a decider. In Game 3 the Bandits rose to the occasion, securing the win 18–2. Brisbane starting pitcher Rick Teasley threw nine strikeouts and allowed just three hits and one run. The Bandit's offence accounted for 23 hits, 18 RBI's and seven home runs. The win against Adelaide took Brisbane to their second straight Championship series, facing the Melbourne Aces in a best-of-three series at Melbourne Ballpark. In Game 1, the Bandits would prevail 6–2 on the back of home runs