The St. Thomas University Baseball Team (53-7), ranked 3rd nationally in the NAIA Coaches Poll begins its journey back to the NAIA World Series with the NAIA National Championship Opening Round Hattiesburg Bracket, May 14-17.  The 2018 Bobcats won The Sun Conference regular season championship and broke the regular season school record for wins and winning percentage. 
 
The Bobcats were selected as one of nine no. 1 seeds in the 45-team tournament that begins today at nine different sites around the country.  STU is the number one seed at the Hattiesburg (Miss.) Bracket.
 
STU will open play at the Hattiesburg Bracket at 7:30 pm ET Monday night against the winner of the LSU-Shreveport vs. William Carey game which will be played Monday afternoon.
 
The Opening Round games will be broadcast via a youtube live stream provided by host school William Carey.
 
With a win Monday, the Bobcats will play on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. ET.  The tournament is a double-elimination format that continues through Thursday if necessary.  With a win of the Hattiesburg Bracket, the Bobcats will advance to the NAIA World Series to be held May 25 – June 1 in Lewiston, Idaho.

 
Opening Round Quick Links

Live Video
 
Live Stats
 
Tournament Website
 
Bracket (all times CT)



St. Thomas University Baseball

Overall Record: 53-7
Head Coach: Jorge Perez (10th Season, 366-220)
Location: Miami Gardens, Fla.
Nickname: Bobcats
Conference: The Sun Conference
Website: www.stubobcats.com
Twitter: @STU_Athletics @STU_Baseball
Facebook: @Stu.bobcat
Instagram: @stuathletics

 

BEST REGULAR SEASON IN SCHOOL HISTORY, ONE WIN AWAY FROM OVERALL WINS RECORD: With a 49-5 regular season record and a .907-win percentage, the 2018 Bobcats broke the previous record of 45 wins set by the 1998 team. With one more win, STU will match the school record for wins in a single season (54) set by the same '98 team.

MOST WINS IN NAIA: STU's overall record of 53-7 (including conference tournament) gives the Bobcats the highest current win total in the NAIA.

BOBCATS WIN REGULAR SEASON CONFERENCE TITLE, RUNNER UP AT TSC TOURNEY: The Bobcats won the regular season Sun Conference Championship with a 22-2 in Sun Conference play.  STU clinched the conference title with a series win at then-no. 2 Southeastern.  St. Thomas finished as Sun Conference Tournament Runner-Up, falling 1-0 to Webber International in the conference title game.

231 GAME STREAK SNAPPED: Prior to the Sun Conference Tournament championship game, St. Thomas had gone 231 games without being shutout, a streak dating back to Feb., 2015.

STREAKING: The Bobcats this season have gone on several lengthy winning streaks with streaks of six, five, 13, 18 and seven games. In the last 30 games, STU is 27-3 entering the Opening Round.

MOVING ON UP IN THE POLLS: STU opened the season ranked 21st in the NAIA Coaches' Poll, then rose to no. 9 in first edition.  The Bobcats cracked the top five in the April 3^rd poll with the fifth spot and are currently ranked third in the NAIA Coaches Poll and second in Perfect Game's NAIA national poll.

FOUR STRAIGHT OPENING ROUNDS: 2018 marks the fourth consecutive season that STU has qualified for the NAIA Opening Round (Lawrenceville Champions 2015, Kingsport Runner-Up 2016, Montgomery Regional 2017, Hattiesburg, 2018).

DOUBLE DIGIT RUNS: The Bobcats have scored double digit runs in 35 of the 60 games played entering the Opening Round.

NO. 1 RANKED OFFENSE: STU's offense ranks first in the NAIA in several categories: Doubles (108), Total At-Bats (2092), Hits (768), Runs Scored (618), and Batting Average (0.367).

SUN CONFERENCE HARDWARE: Chris Garabedian, Nelson Mompierre, Elih Marrero, Erick Delgado, Jackie Urbaez, Orlando Rodriguez, and Erne Valdes all earned Sun Conference first team honors.  Garabedian, Nick Izquierdo and Sergio Lopez were all named to the Sun Conference All-Tournament team.

MOMPIERRE NAMED TSC POY: Outfielder/Catcher Nelson Mompierre was named the Sun Conference Player of the Year. The senior transfer from the University of Missouri led the Bobcats offensively, hitting 0.412, with 15 home runs and 74 RBIS. Finished regular season one home run and one RBI short of the Sun Conference Triple Crown. In addition to Player of the Year recognition Mompierre was also named as the projected NAIA Player of the Year Candidate by Perfect Game.  He is ranked sixth in the nation in doubles (23), seventh in RBI (74), and 17^th in Home Runs (15).

NATION'S HIT LEADER: First baseman Chris Garabedian ranks first nationally in hits (94), and 11^th in doubles (22).  Garabedian recorded a season-high five-hit performance in the TSC Tournament semi-finals against Florida Memorial University.

NATION'S RUNS SCORED LEADER: Second baseman Jackie Urbaez ranks first nationally in runs scored (82), sixth in doubles (23), and seventh in hits (91).  Urbaez is the only Bobcat to play in all 60 games so far this season. He recorded five hits against Florida Memorial on 3/30 and led St. Thomas to the regular season Sun Conference championship hitting three home runs in a series against no. 4 Southeastern.  Urbaez was named The Sun Conference Player of the Week for the week ending April 23 for his performance at Southeastern.

CATCHER MARRERO AMONG NATION'S ELITE: Catcher Elih Marrero currently leads team in RBIs (75), which ranks sixth in the NAIA.  The son of former Major League Baseball catcher, Eli Marrero, he hit five home runs in the final weekend against Florida National University.  Marrero is a two-time Sun Conference Player of the Week recipient (4/16, 4/30).

LOPEZ RACKING UP NUMBERS AS WELL: Outfielder Sergio Lopez ranks second in the NAIA with 80 runs scored.  He recorded six RBIS in a game against Webber International on 4/13 and has two, two home run games this season (Adelphi 3/12; Nova Southeastern University 4/17).

ACE LEADS NATION IN WINS: Starting pitcher Orlando Rodriguez (13-0) leads the NAIA in wins (13), ranks third in Opponents' Batting Average (0.166) and third in hits allowed per 9 (5.23).  Rodriguez has twice recorded double digit strikeout totals (2/23 vs. Keiser; 4/20 vs. Southeastern) with 11 Ks in each performance.  Rodriguez won Sun Conference Pitcher of the Week honors for the week ending April 30.

C-ROD GETTING IT DONE: Starting pitcher Chris Rodriguez (10-1) ranks in the top 10 in the NAIA with 10 wins.  Rodriguez threw a one-hit, complete game shut-out against Ave Maria on 2/17.  He is a two-time Sun Conference Pitcher of the Week recipient (2/18, 4/1).

ELECTRIC CLOSER: Closer Erne Valdes ranks 20th in the NAIA with eight saves.  Valdes, who has 54 strikeouts in 27.1 innings, has an ERA of 1.98.  Opposing hitters are batting .102 against Valdes.

NAIA TEAM DOMINATES NCAA DII FOES: St. Thomas went 10-1 this season vs. teams from NCAA Division II, including a series sweep over Nova Southeastern, the 2016 NCAA DII national champions.

PEREZ NAMED TSC COACH OF YEAR, USA BASEBALL ASSISTANT COACH: St. Thomas University Head Baseball Coach Jorge Perez was named the 2018 Sun Conference Baseball Coach of the Year.  Earlier this season, Perez was named to the coaching staff of USA Baseball's 2018 Collegiate National Team where he will be an assistant coach and first base coach under LSU Head Coach and St. Thomas University Sports Hall of Famer Paul Mainieri.

ACADEMIC HONORS: Five Bobcats – Chris Allende, Juan Martinez, Jose Pupo, Ruben Ramos and Chris Rodriguez were all named Sun Conference Academic All-Conference recipients.

WORLD SERIES EXPERIENCE: Four players – Tyeler Checkley, Chris Rodriguez, Oscar Rodriguez and Erne Valdes on the 2018 team also played on the 2015 team that finished runner up at the NAIA World Series.

LOCAL SO FLA TIES: Twenty six players on the Bobcat roster hail from Miami-Dade and Broward counties with 19 players from Miami-Dade County.