BABSON PARK, Fla. (March 15, 2019) – It took a three-run bottom of the eighth inning for the Warriors to come back and hold on to win in their return to Sun Conference action as the nationally-recognized Webber International University baseball team was victorious 4-3 over Florida Memorial University on Friday night on the Heart of Florida Baseball Field.

Webber picked up its 20th win of the season and moved to 10 games above .500 overall at 20-10 while also improving to 3-4 in The Sun Conference. Meanwhile Florida Memorial, which entered the weekend winning nine of its last 10 games, fell to 16-10 overall and 4-6 in the conference.

Trailing 2-0 after four innings and 2-1 in the bottom of the eighth, the Warriors finally broke through as Carlo Mancillas smacked a game-tying home run to left field with one out in the inning to make it 2-2.

Then, Webber kept the rally going as Quirino Esquivel and Quinsly Balentien drew back-to-back walks before Garrett Martin was hit by a pitch to load the bases with two outs.

Norberto Navarro then came through with a big two-run single through the middle to bring in Esquivel and Balentien and make it 4-2.

The two-run lead for the Warriors, however, was just barely enough as Zak Spivy (6-2) allowed a run to cross with only one out in the top of the ninth and had to face a bases loaded situation with two outs before earning a swinging strikeout to preserve the one-run victory.

Spivy would finish with three runs allowed on 10 hits, and had six strikeouts en route to pitching what was his third consecutive complete game and fourth complete game overall on the season. Spivy also recorded three pickoffs in total.

After leaving runners on second base in each of the first five innings, the Webber offense finally got on the board in the bottom of the sixth inning as Mancillas walked with two outs, took second on a passed ball and came around to score on a double down the right field line by Esquivel.

The Warriors then stranded Esquivel at second in the sixth to leave a runner in scoring position for the sixth inning in a row, and then that trend continued into the seventh inning as Navarro was left at third.

After the Warriors left the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth after the three-run rally, leaving potentially important insurance runs on base, Webber finished the game leaving 11 runners on base overall, including at least one in scoring position in every frame.

Navarro finished 2-for-3 at the plate with two walks to lead the Warriors' bats while Esquivel was 2-for-3 with a run, an RBI and a walk and Mancillas was 1-for-3 with two runs, an RBI and a walk.

"Today was a well-played baseball game, and I am glad we stayed with it and found a way in win," said Head Coach Brad Niethammer.

The Warriors and the Lions will finish up the final two games of their series at 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. tomorrow on Saturday, March 16, on the Heart of Florida Field.