MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. - The Royals traveled down to Miami Gardens on Thursday for game 1 of a 4 game SUN Conference Series against the #11 ranked St. Thomas University. In a tightly contested pitcher's duel, Warner was able to hold on to an early lead to earn a 4-3 win to bring their wins against ranked opponents to 3 on the season.
After falling behind in the 2nd Inning, the Royals would come storming back in the 3rd scoring 3 runs to take a 3-to-1 lead early in the game.
Gabriel Rodriguez got the scoring going for the Royals as he hit his 2nd Home Run of the season, and 1st in Conference play, to tie the game up at 1. The Royals offense was able to build on the momentum created by the Rodriguez solo shot and would get two runners on for
Paddy Smith. Smith would take advantage of the situation he was given to drive in
Jacob Gumieny to give the Royals a 2-1 lead. Warner's 3rd run of the Inning came when the Royals executed a double steal attempt that resulted in
JD Swarbrick stealing home.
The Bobcats earned a run back in the bottom of the 3rd cutting the Royals lead down to a 3-2 lead entering the middle Innings of the game. Following a quiet few Innings on offense, the Royals strung together solid at-bats to load the bases for Rodriguez. Rodriguez got the ball in play and the Royals base-runners forced the Bobcats pitched to commit an error that lead to
Evan Ledoux reaching home safely to give Warner a 4-2 lead. STU fought back in the 9th driving in a run and putting 2 runners in scoring position with no outs threatening to steal the game away in the final Inning from the Royals.
Alexi Angelo was called into action from the bullpen to strike out the first batter he faced, before the Royals the made the decision to intentionally walk the next batter to load the bases to give the Royals the ability to pitch for what would be a game ending double-play. Angelo would take the pressure in stride as he struck out the next batter he faced before ending the Bobcats night with a fly out to center to earn his 3rd save of the season and to secure the Royals 4-3 road victory.
Warner will look to build off their impressive upset win over the 11th ranked Bobcats tomorrow for a Friday double-header that is scheduled to begin at 3:00pm and 6:00pm.
Warner Game Stat Leaders:
HRs: Gabriel Rodriguez (1)
Hits: Gabriel Rodriguez (2)
Ks: Luke Courville (3)
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