BABSON PARK, Fla. (March 4, 2018) – The final two games of the No. 25 Webber International University baseball team's series with the University of Saint Francis (Ill.) had a little bit of everything, and it all ended with a walk off in the bottom of the seventh inning by the Warriors in a 7-6 win in the final game. Including the walk off, Webber was able to complete the three-game sweep over the Fighting Saints with a 5-2 victory in the first game of the day on Sunday on the Heart of Florida Field.

In all, the two wins propelled the Warriors above .500 for the first time on the season at 10-9, and they also gave Head Coach Brad Niethammer his 699th and 700th career wins as the skipper of the Warriors.

Entering his 25th season as the head man for Webber in 2018, Coach Niethammer amassed a 690-614 record in his first 24 seasons, ranking him 17th on the NAIA list of winningest active coaches. The Warriors have had fourteen 30-plus win seasons under Niethammer, and recently made their 12th postseason appearance and first NAIA opening round appearance with a No. 2 seed in the 2017 Georgia Gwinnett bracket.

"This was a good weekend of baseball for us," said Niethammer. "Each game we had more and more players stepping up and bringing something positive to the team. We have got to be ready to go again tomorrow night and continue to get better."



In the series finale, the Warriors used a three-run home run by Chris Medina in the bottom of the third inning to take a 3-2 lead, and then a solo home run by Tanner Williams in the fourth inning made it 4-2.

Webber proceeded to tack on RBI singles by Marcus Begg and Brett Kaminski in the fifth inning to make it 6-2 before Saint Francis (4-8) answered with a four-run sixth inning featuring a three-run double to tie it up.

In the bottom of the seventh, Begg earned a one-out walk before his replacement on the bases, Manny Rodriguez, advanced into scoring position on a hit by pitch by Kaminski. Then, the pair each moved up 90 feet on a wild pitch before Quirino Esquivel was intentionally walked to bring up Williams, who smashed a no doubt single to deep left field to end the game.

Williams finished 2-for-3 overall with two runs batted in, a run scored and a walk, and Garrett Martin was also 2-for-3 with a triple while adding a run and a walk. Martin finished the day a combined 4-for-7 between both games and was 7-for-11 with four runs scored in the series as a whole.

The first game of the day on Sunday was very similar to the Warriors' 5-2 win over the Fighting Saints on Saturday as Webber got the leadoff man on early and often, leading to runs in four of the first five innings.

The Warriors were also benefitted by eight steals in the first five innings, three of which were by Esquivel, to take control. In the first inning, Martin led off with a hit and stole second before scoring on a two-out hit by Alex Rodriguez, who also stole second and scored on a knock by Michel Dagenais.

In the second inning, Webber's leadoff man scored again as Cristian Rivera singled through the right side and later came around on an error with two outs.

In the fourth inning, Rivera struck again as he led off with a double, stole third base and then scored on a sacrifice fly to center field by Napo Ballestero. Webber's final run of the game came in the fifth inning as Esquivel was hit by a pitch for the third time in the series, stole second, advanced to third on a single by Jesse Coleman, and then stole home on a double steal with Coleman to make it 5-0.

Interestingly enough, the Warriors actually had more steals (8) than hits (7) as a team through five innings in the second game of the series, and Webber's hitters also finished the series with seven total hit by pitches.



Additionally, after Doug Pearl pitched six innings with only four hits, one walk, zero earned runs and six strikeouts on Saturday, Juan Terron (2-0) posted very similar numbers in game one on Sunday, going six innings while giving up seven hits, zero runs and zero walks while also striking out six.

While the Warriors scored early to back him up on the mound, Terron also helped himself with clutch pitching in pressure situations as he stranded two runners in scoring position in the first inning, got past a two-out double in the second inning, and then left two more Saints' runners in scoring position in the fifth before earning a strikeout to leave the bases loaded in the sixth.

Next up, Webber will stay at home for the third leg of four straight days with games on the Heart of Florida Field as the Warriors host No. 9 Bellevue University at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, March 5. Webber will also battle Shawnee State University at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 6.