BABSON PARK, Fla. (January 26, 2018) – The highly anticipated opening day for the 2018 Webber International University baseball team has come and gone, and it was a little bit of a disappointing start for the Warriors as they fell to Warner University 2-1 on Friday night at the Heart of Florida Field.

After a very hyped offseason, Webber (0-1) gave up two runs in the top half of the first inning and was then held to only one hit through seven innings before Manny Rodriguez homered to left field to start the bottom of the eighth inning and give the large home crowd something to cheer about.

After Rodriquez's big hit, the Warriors seemed poised to make the signature comeback they did so many times last year during Webber's record-breaking season. With only one out in the eighth inning, Michel Dagenais was hit by a pitch, and then with two outs, Jesse Coleman walked to put runners on first and second.

From there, pinch runner Garrett Martin stole third to put himself 90 feet away from tying the game up, but Webber was unable to push the run across as the second swinging strikeout of the inning ended the threat.

"Obviously today was disappointing for us," said Head Baseball Coach Brad Niethammer. "However, I thought our pitching and defense were still pretty good, but we need to get our offense up to speed."

After giving up two runs in the first inning, Webber's starting pitcher, Zak Spivy (0-1), settled down and got through six innings pitched with seven strikeouts and zero walks. After that, left-hander Doug Pearl entered the game and did a great job over the final three innings, holding the Royals hitless while striking out seven himself, including three straight strikeouts in the top of the ninth, while only walking one batter to keep the Warriors within striking distance.

In addition to Rodriguez, the only other hit for the Warriors came from Brett Kaminski, who singled in the second inning.

Despite the lack of hits, Webber did manage to get base runners on throughout the game in other ways as four Warriors drew a walk and four were hit by a pitch. However, the only other Webber base runner to get into scoring position outside of the eighth inning was Chris Medina, who walked in the first and advanced to second on a passed ball before two strikeouts ended the inning.

Next up, the Warriors will look to even the series up as Webber and Warner meet again tomorrow, Saturday, January 27, in another early-season nonconference game as the two teams square off at 12 p.m. on Warner's campus in Lake Wales, Florida.