BABSON PARK, Fla. (March 28, 2018) – The Webber International baseball team came out swinging against the College of St. Joseph (Vt.) as the Warriors defeated the Fighting Saints 12-0 and 11-4 at the Heart of Florida Field on a beautiful Wednesday afternoon. Tanner White pitched his first complete game as a Warrior and Marcus Begg hit his fourth and fifth home runs in the last four games to lead Webber.

After the Warriors turned a solid 6-4-3 double play to end the top of the first inning in game one, Webber led off the bottom of the first with a triple to right center by Garrett Martin, who scored on the next pitch as Manny Rodriguez singled through the right side to make it 1-0.

M. Rodriguez then came around two batters later on a run-scoring single to right by Jesse Coleman, and then the big blast of the inning came off the bat of Begg, who crushed a ball to deep center to make it 5-0 Warriors with still no outs in the inning.

Webber finished with six runs total in the first inning Mark Martinez doubled to left center field scoring Quirino Esquivel to cap the big inning.

As the game progressed, the Warriors played good defense throughout as Luis Esteban made a strong defensive play behind second base to get the first out of the second inning, and then in the fifth inning, Martin gunned down a Saints' runner at the plate after a fly out to center.

In addition to Martin's three hits, the Warriors had four multi-hit performances in game one as Coleman was 3-for-3 and reached base in all four plate appearances, and Begg and Martinez were both 2-for-4. The four players also combined to score five times and bring in nine RBI's.

While Webber's offense put 12 runs on the board, one of the unsung heroes of the game for Webber was White (2-0), who pitched all seven innings while allowing five hits, no runs and no walks while striking out three to complete the shutout. It was the second strong performance in a row for White, who allowed only one hit in six innings against the Fighting Saint last Wednesday (Mar. 21).

In game two, Webber would score 11 unanswered runs throughout the game after trailing 4-0 going into the bottom of the second inning.

After the Warriors tied the game with a four-run second inning, Begg faced a full count in the bottom of the third inning and connected on his fifth home run in four games with a solo shot to left center field to make it a 5-4 Webber advantage.

Like game one, the Warriors again scored four runs in the fourth inning, this time to go up 10-4. The inning was highlighted by a two-RBI triple to right field by M. Rodriguez scoring Langston Provitt and Martin.

Game two again saw the Warriors with five multi-hit performances as A. Rodriguez went 2-for-2 with two walks, an RBI and a run; M. Rodriguez went 2-for-3 with three RBI's and two runs scored; Napo Ballestero was 2-for-3 with two RBI's and Begg was 2-for-4 with three RBI's and a run.
 
After starting pitcher Max Boling (1-0) let up four runs, three of those being earned; the Webber bullpen collectively shut down the Fighting Saints with four shutout innings. The combination of Brady Mintell, Joey Cutrone, John Shutrump and Braden Peterson did not give up a single hit.

The doubleheader completed the three scheduled games between Webber and St. Joseph. The two teams met previously on Wednesday, March 21, on the Heart of Florida Field with the Warriors winning 2-0. 

Webber improved to 20-15 overall as St. Joseph fell to 7-20.

Webber will head to Crooked Lake rival Warner University on Friday, March 30, for a Sun Conference doubleheader starting at 12 p.m., and then will finish the series at 12 p.m. on Saturday, March 31.