WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (May 2, 2019) – The No. 19 Webber International University baseball team defeated nationally-recognized Keiser University 9-6 during day one of the 2019 Sun Conference Baseball Championship Tournament at FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches.

Also during the first day at the conference tournament, the league announced its annual award winners during an on-field ceremony earlier in the day as Zak Spivy, Willie Carter and Norberto Navarro were each named First-Team All-Sun Conference while Marcus Begg and Gerig Blackman were named second-team. Additionally, Spivy, a senior pitcher from Naples, Florida, was named as The Sun Conference's Co-Pitcher of the Year.


First-Team All-Sun Conference

Webber, the 2018 Sun Conference Tournament champions, are officially on the journey to defend their title after opening the 2019 postseason with a win that saw the Warriors jump on Keiser's starting pitcher, Chad Tworek (6-5), for eight runs in the first three innings.

It all started in the bottom of the first on a two-run home run to left field by Marcus Begg to score Willie Carter.

Then, after Keiser answered with two runs in the top of the second, Webber's starter, Zak Spivy (10-4), used a double play to get out of the top of the third and set up a six-run bottom half for the Warriors.

Three of those six runs in the bottom of the third for Webber came with nobody out as Garrett Martin led off the inning with a single through the left side and was followed by a single to second base by Norberto Navarro before a walk to Carter to load the bags.

Begg followed with a single to center to bring in Martin for this third RBI of the game, and then Quirino Esquivel was hit by a pitch to bring in Navarro to make it 4-2.

Quinsly Balentien walked to score Carter, and then Keiser finally got an out on a fielder's choice by Rougie Odor that brought in Begg to make it 6-2.

The next batter was Carlos Pino, who singled to left to score Esquivel; and then Webber's last run of the inning signaled the end of the game for Tworek as Cristian Rivera grounded out to third base but scored Odor to make it 8-2.

In the top of the fifth, Keiser tried to get back into it against Spivy with three unearned runs that were capped off by a two-RBI double; but then Begg and the Warriors answered back with another run in the bottom of the sixth as Navarro walked with two outs before scoring on a single to center by Begg two batters later, Begg's fourth RBI of the game.

In the top of the ninth, Spivy's bid for a ninth straight complete game ended as each of the first three Seahawks reached base against him via a leadoff double and back-to-back hit by pitches. Gerig Blackman then entered and earned his second save of the year as the game ended with a 6-4-3 double play.

In all, Spivy finished with eight strikeouts over his eight innings of work while allowing nine hits and six runs, but only two earned runs. At the plate, Begg finished 3-for-4 with four RBI's and two runs, and Carter finished 2-for-3 with two runs and two walks.

Head Coach Brad Niethammer said, "Zak [Spivy] did his thing once again and we put up a big inning to help us get the 'W'. It was tough conditions to play in with the rain. Gerig [Blackman] did a nice job getting the ground ball to end the game."

Webber, which was the only top seed in the tournament to win its matchup on Thursday, improved to 34-18 on the season overall and defeated Keiser (32-20) for the fourth time in four tries this season. In all, Webber has outscored Keiser 38-20 this year.

Next up, Webber will battle fifth-seeded Warner University at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 3. Warner defeated No. 2-seeded St. Thomas University 10-8 in the second game of the day on Thursday.
 

Webber's All-Sun Conference Selections:

Zak Spivy – TSC Co-Pitcher of the Year/First-Team All-Sun Conference – senior from Naples, Florida – 9-4 in 13 starts with a 2.60 ERA over 103.2 innings. Led the team with 83 strikeouts while only walking 18. He finished with nine complete games during the regular season, including doing so in each of his final eight games to enter the postseason. In the TSC, Spivy finished second in strikeouts and in wins, fourth in ERA and fifth in opponents' batting average (.231). He was first in the TSC and all of the NAIA in total innings pitched, and was 18th in the country in wins and 42nd in ERA.

Willie Carter – First-Team All-Sun Conference – junior from Lake City, Florida – Led the Warriors with a .401 batting average, a .760 slugging percentage and a .498 on base percentage. Carter was first on the team with 77 hits, 57 RBI's, 18 home runs and 32 walks, and was second with 54 runs, 11 doubles and two triples. His 18 home runs is a new Warriors' single-season record (previous record was 11) while his 57 RBI's is also a Warriors' record (previous record was 56). In the TSC, Carter finished first in slugging percentage and first in home runs. He was also second in the conference in total hits and total bases while finishing third in total RBI's, fourth in batting average and fifth in on base percentage. In all of the NAIA, Carter is sixth in home runs and in both total bases, 10th in home runs per game, 12th in total hits, 14th in slugging percentage, 20th in RBI's, 36th in runs scored and was 43rd in batting average.

Norberto Navarro – First-Team All-Sun Conference – junior from Carolina, Puerto Rico – Was fifth on the team with a .301 batting average and was third with a .443 on base percentage. Led the Warriors with 56 runs scored and 41 walks, and was tied for second with two triples, tied for third with 36 RBI's, alone in fourth with 56 hits, and alone in fifth with eight doubles and five stolen bases. Navarro was fourth in the TSC in assists (115) and in runs scored. In all of the NAIA, Navarro was 27th in runs scored and 33rd in assists.

Marcus Begg – Second-Team All-Sun Conference – senior from Odessa, Florida – Hit. 287 on the year and was second on the team with a .590 slugging percentage. Led the team with 15 doubles, was second with 14 home runs and with 56 RBI's, was fourth on the team with 41 runs scored, and was fifth with 54 total hits. Begg's 56 RBI's on the season tied the Warriors' previous single-season record while his 14 home runs gives him three straight seasons with 10 or more home runs as a Warrior. Begg is now the Warriors' all-time home run leader with 35 career long balls. Begg is third in the TSC in RBI's per game right ahead of Carter, and is third in home runs, fifth in doubles and seventh in total bases. In the NAIA, Begg was 17th in home runs, was 22nd in RBI's and 37th in total bases.

Gerig Blackman – Second-Team All-Sun Conference – junior from Sebring, Florida – 7-0 in 21 appearances with a 2.54 ERA over 46 innings. Recorded 26 strikeouts with only 10 walks. Pitched at least one inning while allowing zero runs 10 times throughout the season. His seven wins were tied for sixth in The Sun Conference.