BABSON PARK, Fla. (March 4, 2019) – The No. 18 Webber International University baseball team defeated No. 23 Bellevue University by a score of 5-1 in a battle of two teams ranked in the top-25 of the NAIA Baseball Coaches' Poll on Monday night at the Heart of Florida Field.

Webber's starting pitcher, Zak Spivy (4-2), nearly completed the shutout before allowing a two-out double to left center followed by a high-bouncing single just over the head of the Warriors' second baseman to get Bellevue on the board.

The double was the Bruins only extra base hit of the entire night against Spivy, who in all would finish with a line of nine innings pitched with nine hits and one run allowed with three walks and five strikeouts. It was his fourth start lasting eight or more innings already this season.

In addition to Spivy not allowing a single Bruin to reach third base until the seventh inning, he was also aided by the Warriors turning out three double plays behind him.

Offensively, the Warriors finally broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the sixth inning after stranding eight total base runners through the first five innings. Quinsly Balentien got it going with a one-out single to center before stealing second base and advancing to third on a throwing error by the catcher, setting up Garrett Martin's RBI-single to center.

After back-to-back swinging strikeouts by Spivy to strand runners on first and third in the top of the seventh, the Warriors seized control with a four-run bottom of the seventh. Back-to-back passed balls by the Bruins led to a run by Rougie Odor before a huge three-run double down the left field line by Quirino Esquivel brought in Luis Esteban, Carlo Mancillas and Balentien to break it open.

From there, Spivy recorded a 1-2-3 top of the eighth inning with two more strikeouts and recorded two quick outs to start the ninth before Bellevue's two-out rally to avoid the shutout.

Pino would finish 3-for-5 at the dish overall while Esquivel was 2-for-4 with his three RBI's, Martin was 2-for-4 with the Warriors' other RBI, and Norberto Navarro walked three times while Balentien scored both of Webber's first and last runs of the ballgame.

The win moved Webber back to above .500 on the season overall at 10-9 while Bellevue fell to 5-10. The Bruins have already played 11 games against teams ranked in the top-25 in the NAIA and are 3-8 in those games while the Warriors are now 2-7 against ranked teams.

"That's a good win for us," spoke Head Coach Brad Niethammer. "We pitched well, play very good defense and had some key hits when we needed them."

The Warriors will return to the Heart of Florida Field for the third consecutive day to play two more games against the University of St. Francis (Ill.) with a doubleheader starting at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, March 5.