St. Thomas had a successful week of action going 3-1, improving its season record to 6-2, and opening Sun Conference play with a league mark of 3-0. Let's give you the rundown of last week and preview the upcoming schedule.

BOBCATS CHALLENGE DII SHARKS ON ROAD

Last Tuesday, the Bobcats continued their stretch of top-ranked competition by facing off in a road game against No. 1, and reigning NCAA Division II champions, Nova Southeastern. A competitive game ended with the final score of 4-2, but the Bobcats gave the Sharks a run for their money, battling NSU into the ninth inning. This ended an early season stretch of four consecutive games playing a top-10 ranked opponent in either the NAIA, or NCAA Division II: No. 6 Lindsey Wilson, No. 4 Tennessee Wesleyan, No. 2 Faulkner, and No. 1 NCAA DII Nova. STU went .500, and in the two losses, lost by a total of three runs combined.

THE THREE ACES UNLEASHED IN SUN CONFERENCE SHOWDOWN

In their first Sun Conference games of the season against Ave Maria, Head Coach Jorge Perez went straight to the strength of his team: pitching. On Friday, Erne Valdes went seven innings, striking out 10 Gyrene batters. Valdes picked up his second win of the season, as the Bobcats plated eight runs in an 8-3 victory to kick off the weekend series.
On Saturday, the baton was handed off to Orlando Rodriguez, who didn't miss a beat. The right-hander dominated in his seven innings of work, striking out nine batters, allowing only one run. Rodriguez also earned his second win of the season, as St. Thomas cruised to an 8-1 win over Ave Maria in the first game of a doubleheader.

To finish off a stellar weekend, Kenny Roder was tasked with sweeping duties, and he brushed off the first 12 Gyrenes batters he faced. Roder's perfect game was broken up in the bottom of the fifth inning after Ryan Keegan led off the inning with a double. Roder finished the day with six innings pitched. He struck out eight, and allowed two runs as the Bobcats rolled to a 13-2 victory.  

All three starters combined for 20 innings, tallied up 27 strikeouts, posting a 2.25 ERA (5 earned runs in 20 innings).

 NUMBERS CRUNCHING

Through eight games, the Bobcats have a record of 6-2. The team has played great competition, and performing well against it. The run differential the Bobcats have accumulated is +53.They have a winning percentage of .750, and are 3-0 in the Sun Conference. The offense has a team batting average of .313, collected 91 hits, plated 71 runs and driven in 55.

On the pitching side, the staff has a .175 batting average against, given up 18 runs off 43 hits and has struck out 67 opponents. They have thrown 70 innings and have a staff ERA of 2.06.

Individually, Oscar Rodriguez is hitting .522, Orlando Rivera has a .371 batting average, and Nick Canino is hitting .350. In the power department, Freshman James Spatafora has two of the teams five home runs hit. Rounding off the list are German Morales, Michael Centeno, and Randy Oliva.

Erne Valdes and Orlando Rodriguez lead the club with 16 strikeouts each. Both have two wins to go along with a 1.64 ERA for Valdes and 3.00 ERA for Rodriguez. Andrew Denis has been spectacular in the bullpen in his three games of work, throwing 6.1 innings, striking out eight, with a .150 batting average against. Denis has come in from the
pen and stranded the bases loaded multiple times.

ON DECK FOR THE BOBCATS

On Tuesday, February 14, STU takes on NCAA DII Barry University at 6 p.m. for the first home game since a thrilling 11-0 opening day victory over Florida Memorial. This will end a stretch of seven road/neutral site games the Bobcats have played.

Following the game against Barry, St. Thomas will host a weekend series against Sun Conference rival No. 15 Keiser University. The first of three-games will be on Friday, February 17 at 6 p.m., and continue into Saturday for a doubleheader at 12 and 3 p.m. While Keiser is ranked No. 15 in the NAIA preseason poll, Perfect Game has them in the top spot of their poll. St. Thomas is ranked No. 4 in that same poll.