LEWISTON, ID. (May 24^th, 2019) -  For the seventh time in program history, St. Thomas University (45-13) will be competing in the Avista NAIA World Series, entering the 2019 tournament as the sixth seed. STU is 7-12 all-time in the World Series, appearing in 1996, '98, 2000, '07, 15, '18, '19.

St. Thomas advanced to the NAIA World Series following a sweep of the "Miami Gardens Bracket" of the NAIA Opening round, defeating William Jessup University in the clinching game, 7-5.

In game three of the NAIA World Series, the Bobcats take on Sun Conference rival and three-seed, Southeastern University. Friday evening in Lewiston will mark the fifth time in 2019 that St. Thomas and Southeastern face-off, with STU leading the season series 3-1. St. Thomas and Southeastern are scheduled to begin the game at around 9:40 ET

MATCH-UP

• In the regular season weekend series, STU swept SEU, outscoring the Fire 28-9 on April 12^th and 13^th at Paul Demie Mainieri Field.
• Orlando Rodriguez (9-2) makes his second start against the Fire this season. In the last match-up, Rodriguez pitched eight innings, striking out four and picked up his sixth win of the season.
• Erick Delgado led the Bobcat offense, going 5-12 with a home run and four RBIs.
• Southeastern finished the regular season as Sun Conference Champions, going 20-4 in TSC play. STU finished a game behind, in second place, with a 19-5 record.
• The two rivals met in the Sun Conference Tournament, in an elimination game. STU was defeated 11-7.

BOBCATS IN LEWISTON

• The last time St. Thomas advanced to the World Series (2018), the Bobcats went 0-2 and were eliminated by the Racers of Northwestern Ohio, 13-9.
• STU last won a game in Lewiston in 2015, coming back to defeat second-seeded Faulkner University 6-3 in ten innings.
• Senior outfielder, Sergio Lopez, enjoys the hitting in the World Series, going 4-9 with two home runs.
  • Lopez is the last player in NAIA World Series history to hit two Home Runs in a game (vs. Lewis – Clark State)
• Alex Sarmiento makes his third trip to the World Series, as a player, becoming the only Bobcat to accomplish the feat (2015, '18, '19)

WORLD SERIES FIELD
No. 1 – Tennessee Wesleyan
No. 2 – University of Science and Arts at Olive (Okla.)
No. 3 – Southeastern
No. 4 – Faulkner (Ala.)
No. 5 – Georgia Gwinnett
No. 6 – St. Thomas
No. 7 – Freed – Hardemann (Tenn.)
No. 8 – Indiana Tech
No. 9 – Bellevue (Neb.)
No. 10 – Lewis – Clark State (ID.)
 
2019 NAIA World Series information here
Watch/ Stats
Bracket

For live tweets, follow @STU_Baseball on twitter and @stubaseball_ on Instagram

-STU-