WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (May 6, 2018) – For the first time in program history, the Webber International University baseball team is headed to the championship game of The Sun Conference Baseball Tournament. The Warriors advanced to the final day of the tournament after taking down the top seed in the tournament and No. 3 nationally ranked Saint Thomas University 6-4, Webber's second win over a team ranked in the top four in the NAIA in three days.

It was also the fourth win of the season over a team currently ranked in the top four of the 2018 NAIA Baseball Coaches' Top 25 Poll for Webber (34-21), and was its eighth win over a nationally ranked opponent overall. For Saint Thomas (51-6), it was the end of a seven-game winning streak and was also the end of a streak of four consecutive games with 11 or more runs scored.

Facing a Saint Thomas squad that outscored Webber 37-17 in their three-game series back in mid-April, the Warriors made their presence felt early and showed that they were there to play.

The Warriors jumped in front 3-0 after an inning and a half as Langston Provitt, Webber's walk off hero from the night before against Florida Memorial University, homered again to left field in the bottom of the second inning to score Quirino Esquivel.

In the first inning, Manny Rodriguez led off the game with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly to right by Marcus Begg.

After a two-run single for the Bobcats in the bottom of the second, Chris Medina answered with a home run of his own to left field in top of the third to make it 4-2.

After Provitt and Medina's early home runs, the Warriors were responsible as a team for three of the four home runs hit over the first seven games of the conference tournament.

Also of note, the Warrior offense did a great job of keeping the pressure on the STU defense all game as the Bobcats did not get a 1-2-3 inning until the ninth. M. Rodriguez finished 3-for-4 with a run, a triple and a walk from the top spot in the batting order; Begg was 3-for-3 with a run and an RBI; Jesse Coleman was 1-for-2 with a run, an RBI, a double and two walks; Alex Rodriguez was 1-for-3 with an RBI and a walk; and Provitt was 1-for-4 with a run, two RBI's and a walk.

Webber's starter, Tanner White (5-1), meanwhile, pitched perfect 1-2-3 third and fourth innings and left a runner in scoring position with one out in the fifth as the Warriors tacked on two more runs in the top of the fifth.

STU's starter, Ian Exposito (9-1), entered the game with only 18 earned runs allowing all season as the Warriors scored a third of that total off of him with no outs yet to be recorded in the fifth inning.

With White, who finished with only five hits allowed with three runs, one walk and six strikeouts in 6.2 innings of work, being pulled due to a rain delay with two outs in the seventh inning, John Shutrump entered to pitch and ended up leaving runners on second and third with the tying run at the plate.

Then in the bottom of the eighth inning, Shutrump and Coleman both faced the tying run at the plate, but it ended with both pitchers inducing a groundout to Cristian Rivera at short to leave a runner on second.

In the ninth, Coleman came out throwing gas, striking out the first two batters he faced and then getting a fly out to Brett Kaminski in left to end it for his seventh save of the year.

Head Coach Brad Niethammer said, "Tanner [White] did a great job keeping their hitters off balance. We did a decent job at the plate, got a few RBI's, and Jesse [Coleman] shut the door again. It was another big win for us, and we are now only nine innings away from a championship."

Next up, the Warriors will have to wait to see who their opponent in the TSC Tournament Championship game at 11 a.m. on Monday, May 7, will be. Should the Warriors fall in the first game on Monday, a winner-take-all final game will follow around 2:30 p.m.

Webber's opponent on Monday will be one of three teams the Warriors have already defeated once in the conference tournament: No. 4 Southeastern University, Florida Memorial University, or Saint Thomas University. The Fire and the Lions began play on Sunday following Webber's contest with Saint Thomas, which will then face the winner between SEU and FMU to see who advances to square off with the Warriors in the championship.