The Owls Baseball team is heading to DuBois, PA. for their third appearance in the USCAA Small College World Series, beginning Monday, May 17- Thursday, May 20. MUW enters the field as the number three seed and will take on the number six seed- Bryant &Stratton College- Albany on Monday, May 17 at 3:30 PM.
Owls Baseball enters the tournament 20-9 for its third appearance in four years, with notable wins over Southeastern Baptist College (23-3), Rust College (15-0), and Xavier University of Louisiana (5-4).
When asked how it felt going to the World Series for the third time, head coach, Matthew Wolfenbarger said, "I am really excited for our guys and our program to be going back to the Small College World Series for our third time! We are an experienced team with a lot of seniors, many of whom made the trip and contributed to our past appearances here. We have played really well this season, and it shows by us having the best regular-season record we have ever had and earning the highest seed we have ever been in the World Series. This is all just a testament to this group of guys' hard work this year and in previous years to get us to this point in our program. We are ready for the tournament and cannot wait to get there." Leading the pitching staff, senior Brady Jones has seven appearances with seven starts for a 4-1 record. He currently leads the team with a 5.56 ERA with 34 innings, 31 strikeouts, and a .275 batting average against. On offense, Damain Benefield and Trey Petite lead the team. Benefield, a senior from Ranburne, AL, carries a .446 batting average into the tournament, with 37 hits (6 doubles, 2 HRs) and 26 RBIs. Petite, the starting third baseman, leads the Owls slugging percentage with .626 with 5 HRs. Petite also leads the team in RBIs (39) and hits (48).
The Bobcats of Bryant & Stratton College- Albany comes into the World Series with a 7-23 record, with significant wins over Xavier University of Louisiana (5-3), Florida National (10-2), Florida Memorial (9-7), and SUNY Adirondack (16-5).
Junior, Gabriel Murillo leads the Bobcats offense with a .423 batting average, consisting of 33 hits, 18 RBIs, 4 doubles, and 2 home runs. Austin Davis, also a Junior, leads the team's slugging percentage with 4 HRs and a .542 slugging percentage, and 28 hits (4 doubles & 2 triples). On the mound for the Bobcats, Jake Grubesic leads in innings pitched with 27.2 and has racked up a 6.51 ERA with 19 strikeouts and 26 runs scored against him.
Owls Baseball begins their journey to DuBois, PA. tomorrow, Friday, May 14, at 9 AM. Join MUW Athletics as it sends the team off at 8:45 AM in front of Pohl Gymnasium. Bring your Welty Blue, signs, pom-poms, and well wishes.
For the latest on the tournament, go to the SmallCollegeWorldSeries.com
