LAKE WALES, Fla. - The Royals battled with #12 Webber International University on Friday in the final double-header of the regular season. Warner fell in game 1 of the double-header despite a late push falling 7-to-6 before taking game 2 of the day with an 8-to-5 win to guarantee season record of .500 for the Royals.
Game 1: Warner 6 - #12 WIU 7
The Royals battled back from a 7-to-1 deficit heading into the 7th and final Inning of game 1 before going on a 5 run rally to cut the Warriors lead to 1, but despite the late push the Royals were unable to drive in the tying run of the game and would fall 7-to-6. After finding themselves behind by 7 runs after the first two Innings, Warner's defense was able to shut down the Warrior offense for the remainder of game 1.
Aidan Murphy had one of his strongest days out of the bullpen on Friday throwing 5.2 Innings in relief while allowing only 1 run on 4 hits and striking out 7 to help the Royals fight back late in game 1. The Royals 1st run of the game came in the 6th Inning when
Ethan Pues earned an RBI bases-loaded walk to score
Danny Garcia. Warner refused to quit entering the final Inning of play down 6 as the team strung together strong at-bats,
Garrett Gregory drove in the Royals opening run of the Inning on an RBI single in his 1st at-bat of the game to score
Dawson Schumann.
Paddy Smith followed that up with an RBI single into left field to drive home
Evan Ledoux before Gregory was able to take advantage of a wild pitch to continue to cut into WIU's lead.
Samuel Blanco got the Royals within 1 run with a 2 out 2 RBI single into left center field that saw
Adriel Torres-Gonzalez and Smith reach home safely. The Royals were able to get the tying run to 3rd and go-ahead run on 2nd during their late rally, but were unable to find one more hit to drive them in and would fall 7-to-6.
Warner Game 1 Stat Leaders -
Hits: Gabriel Rodrigeuz (3)
RBIs: Samuel Blanco (2)
Stolen Bases: Ethan Pues &
Carlito Collins (1)
Ks: Aidan Murphy (2)
Game 2: Warner 8 - #12 WIU 5
Warner bounced back in game 2 of the regular season's final double-header to earn their first win over their Crooked Lake Rivals since the 2024 season. The Royals jumped out to an early lead in the first Inning when
Jacob Gumieny caused some chaos for the Warriors defense laying down a bunt that led to a throwing error leading to
Raul Olivera and
Dawson Schumann reaching home safely to give Warner a 2-0 lead after the 1st Inning. The Royals increased their lead to 3 during the 2nd Inning when
Timothy Dunn scored on a wild pitch after his aggressive base running lead to him reaching on an error, stealing 2nd and then reaching 3rd another error. WIU would answer back in the top of the 3rd and tie the game back up at 3, but Warner quickly retook the lead in the bottom of the Inning on an a Gumieny RBI double down the left field line to score Schumann. The Warriors countered in the top of the 4th with a run of their own to knot the game back up at 4 runs each.
Following a few quiet Innings, the Royals offense reignited in the 7th Inning that started off with another Gumieny RBI on a single hit into center field that brought home
Francis Alberto to retake the lead. Torres-Gonzalez followed that up with a 2 RBI single into center field that scored Gumieny and Garcia to give the Royals a 7-to-4 lead. Webber earned a run back in the 8th, but Warner would reestablish their 3 run lead in the bottom of the Inning when
Timothy Dunn scored on another wild pitch. Warner's pitching staff was solid in Friday night's win over #12 Webber International.
Easton Nunez got the start of the Royals and threw 7 Innings while allowing only 4 runs on 8 hits and struck out 5. The 4 runs that Nunez allowed came in the 3rd and 4th Innings, but the Freshman was able to regain his composure to finish his final 3 Innings without surrendering another run.
Harper McLendon earned his 1st save this season, a 2 Inning save where he allowed only 1 run on 3 hits and recorded 4 strikeouts to help the Royals secure the win.
Warner Game 2 Stat Leaders -
Hits: Jacob Gumieny (4)
RBIs: Jacob Gumieny &
Adriel Torres-Gonzalez (2)
Stolen Bases: 3 Royals stole 1 base
Ks: Easton Nunez (5)
Up Next:
Warner will look to split the series tomorrow,
April 25th when they wrap up the regular season on
Senior Day at Sikes Family Field against the
#12 Webber Warriors at 1:00pm.
#GodBlessGoRoyals | #TogetherAsOne
