BABSON PARK, Fla. – St. Thomas (7-11, 3-0 TSC) completed a three-game sweep at 11th ranked Webber International (5-6, 0-3 TSC) in the season-opening Sun Conference series for both teams by winning both games of Saturday's doubleheader. 
STU won the first game of Saturday's doubleheader 6-4, then completed the sweep with an 8-6 victory in the series finale.  The Bobcats had won the opening game of the three-game series 8-7 on Friday.

St. Thomas recorded a total of 22 runs on 37 hits while committing just three errors across the three-game series.  Despite the close final scores, the Bobcats never trailed in the road series, building early leads then holding off the Warriors in each of the three contests. 

Emily Santos earned wins in both games on Saturday, pitching a combined 6 1/3 innings and allowing four earned runs on seven hits over the two games.  Jessica Castiglione relieved Santos to earn the save in both contests and went a combined 7 2/3 innings, allowing six hits and three earned runs across the doubleheader.

In Saturday's two games, Alliyah Sands went a combined 4-for-8 with a home run and three RBI.  Castiglione was a combined 5-for-8 with one RBI, while Emily Santos went 4-for-8 with two RBI for the doubleheader.

In the first game of Saturday's doubleheader, the Bobcats jumped out to a 6-0 lead.  STU scored two runs in the first inning as Melody Grafals led off the game with a single to center field.  Sands drew a walk, then Emily Santos hit a 2-RBI single to left-center to drive in Grafals and Sands.

The Bobcats then piled on to their early lead with a four-run second inning as the Bobcats hit six singles, including five consecutive base hits in the frame.  Alysha Coyle singled, then was driven in by an RBI-single by Sands.  Alexis Castroman singled to drive in Sands, then Emily Santos recorded a base hit of her own.  After a pitching change by the Warriors, the hit parade continued as Castiglione and Kaitlin O'Hara each hit RBI singles to score Castroman and Santos.

Webber fought back to score two runs in the third inning to make the score 6-2.  The run difference remained at four until the bottom of the seventh.  The Warriors hit a two-run home run with no outs to cut the lead to 6-4.  Castiglione then shut down the Warriors for the final three outs – a fly out to left fielder GiGi Santos, a ground out to second baseman Grafals and ultimately a pop up to Grafals to end the game.

In the final contest, Grafals hit a lead-off home run to start the scoring for the Bobcats.  STU added two more runs in the second on a 2-RBI single by Grafals that scored Jamie Gonzalez and O'Hara.  Webber tied the game at 3-3 with three runs over the next two innings.

The Bobcats pulled ahead once again in the top of the fourth as Michelle Murch hit a one-out single, then scored on a home run with two outs by Sands.  It marked the second home run in as many days for Sands and the two-run blast put the Bobcats ahead 5-3. 

The Warriors battled back with two runs in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game 5-5, but the Bobcats would respond again with two runs in the top of the fifth on an RBI single by Gonzalez to score Emily Santos followed by an RBI single by McKenna Delaware that scored pinch runner Brandi Bunker.

After a run by WIU in the bottom of the fifth cut the lead to one run, the Bobcats added an insurance run in the top of the sixth on an RBI-single by Gigi Santos scoring Castiglione.

Castiglione then shut down the Warriors over the final two innings including a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh capped off by a strikeout for the final out.

Conference play continues for the Bobcats next weekend with another road trip to Central Florida as STU visits Warner University for a three-game series beginning Friday in Lake Wales, Fla.