Baseball | 2/10/2020 11:02:00 AM

MIAMI SHORES, Fla. – The Barry Buccaneers, the last unbeaten team in the Sunshine State Conference, put their 6-0 mark on the line taking on the St. Thomas Bobcats at Maineri Field on Tuesday night.

The Bucs (6-0) are ranked 10th in the NCBWA pre-season South Region poll. The Bobcats (6-1) are ranked second in the NAIA national poll.

Barry leads the SSC in both batting and pitching in the early going this season. The Bucs have a 1.04 ERA with 54 strikeouts in 52 innings and have allowed only four extra-base hits in six games. They are holding opponents to a .126 average. Offensively, the Bucs lead the league in batting (.361), on-base (.453) and slugging (.565). Andrew Rapoza and Ariel Diaz are each hitting .500 on the season. Rapoza has scored nine runs and driven in five, while Dial has six runs and seven RBI. Freddie Matos (.455) and Richie Sobalvarro (.440) are also natting over .400 for the year. So far, three pitchers have started all six games (Myles Gayman, Frank II Gonzalez and Mike Reagan), though Tuesday's starter will be a new face. He'll have a lot to live up to, as the three main rotation guys have combined to go 6-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 33.0 innings, with 30 strikeouts and just eight walks.

The Bobcat carry a 2.48 team ERA and are batting .302 on the season. Seniors Gus Guerra and Kobe Lopez, along with junior Andrew Fernandez lead the Bobcat offense, each batting over .400 for the year. Guerra (.479) has five runs scored and four RBI. Fernandez has driven in five, but scored only once, since the NAIA uses courtesy runners for the catcher. Lopez leads the team with five doubles and has scored seven times with two RBI. 

If you would like to keep up with all the action from the game, but can't make it out to the field, follow the links below:

Inside the Matchup:

Series record: St. Thomas leads 34-29-1
Season records: Barry 6-0, 0-0 SSC; St. Thomas 6-1, 0-0 The Sun
In Miami Gardens: St. Thomas leads 15-14-1