Miami Gardens, Fla. - After a series win and a historical performance, the St. Thomas Bobcats are back at home for another Sun Conference Series, this time against the Warner Royals.
Game Details
Teams: Warner University (13-13, 3-5 SUN) at #11 St. Thomas University (18-8, 3-1 SUN)
Dates: Thursday, March 19 (6:00 pm), Friday, March 20 (3:00 pm and 6:00 pm), and Saturday, March 21 (1:00 pm)
Location: Paul Demie Mainieri Field | Miami Gardens, Fla.
Media: Live Stats | Live Video | Tickets
Probable Starters
Game 1 (Thursday, March 19 at 6:00 pm): RHP Austin Vakiener (0-0, 7.94 ERA) vs. RHP Juan Fernandez (4-1, 4.37 ERA)
Game 2 (Friday, March 20 at 3:00 pm): RHP Easton Nunez (3-2, 2.48 ERA) vs. Diego Evans (3-1, 4.06 ERA)
Game 3 (Friday, March 20 at 6:00 pm): RHP Gage Allen (2-1, 6.23 ERA) vs. LHP Ismael Cordoba (4-2, 1.45 ERA)
Game 4 (Saturday, March 21 at 1:00 pm): RHP Alexi Angelo (1-0, 3.46 ERA) vs RHP Luis Rodriguez (2-1, 4.76 ERA)
Series History
St. Thomas leads the all-time series history over Warner, going 35-26. In the last 10 games, the Bobcats are 4-6 against Warner. After winning the first game of the Sun Conference Series against Warner last season, the Bobcats dropped the last three games of the series. These two teams met in the Sun Conference Tournament in an elimination game, and Warner won that game as well.
Moving Up in the Polls
On Wednesday, the second regular-season NAIA Baseball Coaches' Top 25 Poll was released. The Bobcats moved up six spots to number 11, which was one of the biggest jumps in the poll. Two other Sun Conference teams are in the poll, with Southeastern ranked 10th, and Keiser remained 22nd. Some non-conference teams the Bobcats played are in the poll as well, with Taylor ranked 3rd, Loyola ranked 18th, and Concordia Nebraska and Oakland City receiving votes.
Monday's Historic Offensive Performance
On Monday's conference game against Florida Memorial, the Bobcats won 23-0. Those 23 runs are the most the Bobcats have scored as a collective offense in a decade. The last time they have scored that many runs was February 29, 2016, in which the Bobcats defeated Grace College 27-3 in a neutral site game. In Monday's game, seven Bobcats had multi-hit games. They were led by Nicholas Alonso, who went 3-for-4 with a grand slam, five RBI, and two stolen bases.
Scouting Warner
The Royals enter this season with a .500 record, going 13-13. They have already played two Sun Conference Series, splitting with Ave Maria and losing 3 games to one against Southeastern. Warner is led by first year head coach Addison Rouse.
Offensively, the Royals are hitting .283 as a collective offense, with a .388 slugging percentage. Their best offensive aspect is their base running, as they already have 78 steals, which is ranked 16th in the NAIA. Gabriel Rodriguez and Jhenzel FIgueroa both have double-digit stolen bases. JD Swarbrick leads Warner offensively, hitting .436 with eight doubles.
On the mound, freshman RHP Easton Nunez has been Warner's best arm. In 29 innings, Nunez has a 2.48 ERA, with a 1.10 WHIP. Trenton Chenard leads the Royals in strikeouts with 38. As a staff, Warner has a 6.13 ERA, with 183 strikeouts in 204 innings.
