LEWISTON, ID. (May 30^th, 2019) – For the second time in St. Thomas University Baseball history, and the first time since 2015, the Bobcats have advanced to play in the Avista NAIA World Series Championship Game. STU (49-14) advances to the tournament championship, after defeating the University of Science and Arts (OK.) (49-12) 10-2 on Thursday night from Harris Field.

Bobcat Starters: Jackie Urbaez (2B), Erick Delgado (SS), Alejandro Rivero (3B), Sergio Lopez (RF), Chris Garabedian (1B), Jack Diaz (DH), Joey Thompson (LF), Daniel Mondejar (C), Daniel Lowry (CF), Christopher Coipel (SP)

Game Notes

• Coipel (6-2) pitched the best game of his season, lasting eight innings, striking out two and allowing two earned runs to earn his sixth win of the season.
• Coipel pitched through the eighth for the first time this season, and into the eighth for the third time this season, all against ranked teams (Keiser, Southeastern, USAO)
• St. Thomas opened the scoring in the top of the third inning, following a RBI single by Delgado which scored Lowry.
• Lopez stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the third inning, with a 1-1 count. Driving a pitch over the wall in left field for a Grand Slam, his seventeenth home run of the season to give STU a 5-0 lead.
  • The grand slam was Lopez's third career NAIA World Series home run, first since Opening Night in 2018.
• Thompson singled to right, scoring Garabedian to extend the lead to 6-0.
• Mondejar, the hottest STU bat, continued his torrid pace in the World Series, hitting a double to drive in Diaz, capping off a 7-0 inning.
  • Mondejar has four multi-hit games in the World Series and has recorded a hit in all but one of the Bobcats NAIA playoff games. The catcher is hitting 0.450 with six RBIs and a home run in Idaho.
• The Bobcats added an additional run in the top of the fourth inning, as Rivero brought in Urbaez on a sacrifice fly.
• In the top of the sixth inning, a nice double by Lopez, giving him his fifth RBI, gave STU a 9-0 lead over Science and Arts.
• Coipel held the Drover offense, recording 12 consecutive outs from the bottom of the first until the fifth, when USAO reached on an error. Coipel worked around the error, recording a groundball out to end the inning.
• USAO scored their first run in the bottom of the sixth, hitting a lead-off home run, cutting the lead to 9-1.
• Mondejar led off the top of the seventh, with his second home run of the season, giving STU a 10-1 advantage over USAO.
• The Drovers added their final run with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth, putting the Bobcat lead at 10-2.
• St. Thomas turned the ball over to Tyler Morales, looking to get the final three outs and advance to the Championship for the first time since 2015.
• Morales struck out two, including the final out, clinching the second NAIA Championship-berth in school history.

MVBobcats
Sergio Lopez: 2-4, Grand Slam, five RBIs
Daniel Mondejar: 2-5, home run, two RBIs
Chris Coipel: 8 IP, three strikeouts, two earned runs
 
Upcoming
St. Thomas University faces Tennessee Wesleyan in a rematch from Tuesday's NAIA World Series game, this time with a NAIA National Championship on the line. First pitch is scheduled for 10:00 p.m. ET and will be available on ESPN3.
 
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