MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (January 30, 2024) – The St. Thomas University (STU) Baseball team travels west to Mesa, Arizona to compete in the East/West Challenge. This will be some of the toughest competition STU will face this season taking on four ranked opponents, one being inside the top five.
 
The Bobcats started the season off hot in the batter's box with 50 total hits in the opening series against Montreat. In the three victories the Bobcats outscored the Cavaliers 36 to 9. Robin Fernandez leads the team with a .600 batting average with six hits, a homerun, six runs, and two RBI's. Kendry Noriega isn't far behind with a .500 average, with nine hits, three homeruns, and six RBI's. Carlos Polanco started the year off on the right foot, going 1-0 with five innings thrown. Polanco has five K's, gave up four hits, and no free passes. Chase Chatman is also 1-0 on the mound, with five innings pitched, two strikeouts, and two hits.
 
In game one of the challenge STU will take on #19 Benedictine-Mesa. The Redhawks won the first two games of their season, defeating Oklahoma Panhandle State by a score of 10-9 and Olivet Nazarene by a score of 7-2. Some Redhawks to be on the lookout for are Cameron Jowaiszas and Anthony Sortino. Jowaiszas had three hits, two RBI's, and two runs in the first game. Sortino had three hits, three RBI's, and one run in the Redhawks first game.
 
The second game of the challenge the Bobcats will see #11 Hope International who also started 2024 2-0. The Royals defeated Westcliff two times, the first game won 20-5 and the second 13-6. Branden Chun-ming was a standout at the plat in the first game, knocking three hits, three runs, and two RBI's. Dean Toigo got three hits, along with three runs, and an RBI. Chaz McWilliams threw three innings for the Royals not giving up a hit, and striking out three.
 
Game Three of the challenge STU will go up against #17 Vanguard, who went 2-1 in their opening series against Antelope Valley. The Lions lost their first game, but went on to beat Antelope Valley 5-2 in the second game, and 10-4 in the final game. In game two, Michael Downtain got two hits, and two RBI's. In game three Downtain had two hits, three RBI's, and a run. Spencer Edmondson pitched five innings for the Lions in game two, striking out three and walking four batters.
 
In the final game of the East/West Challenge, the Bobcats will take on a familiar face in #3 Lewis-Clark State. The Warriors are always near the top of the NAIA, and have yet to play a game in 2024. They return a good hitter in Nick Seamons, who had 80 hits in 2023. Seaomons also had 17 homeruns, 55 RBI's, and a .641 slugging percentage. Cameron Smith is also a guy to look out for on the mound. In 2023 Smith had 41 K's, gave up 25 hits, and was 4-2.