LAKELAND, Fla. – Webster's baseball team is set to open up play in this year's RussMatt Central Florida Baseball Invitational on Saturday with a 12 p.m. EST game against Rhodes College at Southard Stadium on the campus of Saint Leo University in Saint Leo, Fla.
 
Saturday's game will mark the first of seven games in eight days for the Gorloks in and around the Polk County area. In addition to the game at Saint Leo, Webster will play five games at the Lake Myrtle Sports Complex in Auburndale, Fla., and will play one game at Chain of Lakes Park Stadium in Winter Haven, Fla. The Chain of Lakes Stadium was formally the spring training home of the Boston Red Sox from 1966-1992 and the Cleveland Indians from 1993-2008.
 
"We are excited to once again get the chance to travel to Florida and play some baseball and also face some quality teams," Webster head coach Bill Kurich. "This will give us a chance to see where our team is at heading into the heart of our schedule."
 
The Gorloks are returning to the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational for the second consecutive season and ninth time since 2009. Last year, Webster went 3-4 at the event and has posted a 30-21 overall record in the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational since 2009.
 
Following Saturday's game against Rhodes, Webster will then face Ripon College on Sunday, March 11 at 4:30 p.m. EST at Lake Myrtle Park Field #3, before facing 10th-ranked Southern Maine on Monday, March 12 at 9 a.m. EDT at Lake Myrtle Park's Main Field and then the Gorloks will meet Rutgers University-Camden on Tuesday, March 13 at 5 p.m. EDT at Lake Myrtle Park's Main Field. After having a day off on Wednesday, Webster will face the College of St. Scholastica at 5 p.m. EDT at Chain of Lakes Stadium, before facing 21st-ranked Wheaton (Mass.) College on Friday, March 16 at 9:15 EDT at Lake Myrtle Park Field #5 and then concluding its trip to Florida with a 9 a.m. EDT game on Saturday, March 17 against the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse at Lake Myrtle Park Field #1.
 
While two of the teams are nationally ranked the Gorloks will face in Florida, Webster will also face two other teams – St. Scholastica (42 votes) and UW-Lacrosse (16 votes) – that earned votes in this week's latest D3Baseball.com Top 25 Poll.  
 
The field is always a strong one at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational and that is why Kurich likes to bring his team to Florida during spring break.
 
"We never want to shy away from competition, we always try to find the best teams to play no matter where we go and this year is no different," said Kurich, who in five games into his 12th season as Webster's coach. "I like going to Florida and playing some different teams that we don't get too see very often."
 
During its seven-game trip to Florida, the Gorloks will not only see four teams that are either ranked or receiving votes nationally, they will also face five schools that advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2017, including Wheaton (Mass.), who earned a spot in the Division III World Series. The NCAA Tournament teams from last year Webster will face at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational are Southern Maine, Rhodes, St. Scholastica and UW-Lacrosse.
 
Webster comes into its Florida trip having won two straight games and three of its first five games to open the 2018 campaign. The Gorloks two wins came last weekend at its Rawlings Baseball Classic held at GCS Credit Union Ballpark as Webster picked up a 3-2 win over North Park and then a 12-1 win over Transylvania that called in the seventh due to the 10-run mercy rule, before its game on Monday with Benedictine was cancelled due to inclement weather.
 
The Gorloks other win this season came in its season opener as they picked up a 5-4 win over then sixth-ranked Concordia-Chicago, another team that advanced to the Division III World Series a season ago. Webster's losses this year have come against Concordia (Texas), 4-3 and Concordia (Chicago), 8-3 on March 26.
 
Leading the way offensively for Webster heading into its seven game trip to Florida is sophomore catcher Joe Swanson (Park Ridge, Ill./Maine West) and sophomore first baseman Kyler Kent (Pottsboro, Texas). Swanson is hitting .400 as he has had four hits, three RBIs and has scored one run, while Kent is tied for the team lead in hits with seven, and has scored four run, hit a double, one home run and 2 RBIs. The Gorloks are hitting .308 as a team and are 8-for-9 on stolen bases.
 
Other key players on offense for the Gorloks are junior outfielder Nate Tholl (Tinley Park, Ill./John A. Logan CC), senior outfielder Conner Wardlaw (Arnold, Mo./Jefferson College) and freshman third baseman Ben Swords (Freeport, Ill./Freeport). Tholl has had seven hits, scored two runs, hit a home run and has 3 RBIs, while Wardlaw has recorded six hits, scored two runs, hit one double and is 2-for-2 on stolen bases and Swords has had five hits, scored a team leading five runs and has hit two doubles and leads the team with 5 RBIs.
 
On the mound, Webster has a 3.77 team ERA as they have struggled with walks and hit batsmen as they walked 15 and hit 13 opposing batter in 43 innings of work.
 
The team's top starter through the first five games of the season has been sophomore Matt Mulhearn (Chicago Heights, Ill./Marian Catholic), who is 1-1 with a 2.92 ERA. Mulhearn leads the team in innings pitched (12.1), strikeouts (10) and has walked just batter in those 12.1 innings of work.
 
Webster's bullpen in the early going has been paced by the pitching of freshman Jake Anderson (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) and sophomore Shane Donovan (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett). Anderson has an 0.00 ERA as in four innings he hasn't allowed a hit and has recorded five strikeouts, while Donovan is 2-0 with a 1.04 ERA and in 8.2 innings, he has allowed no hits and just one earned run, while walking three and fanning six.
 
All seven of the games n Florida will have live in-game statistics available on the Webster athletics website at www.websterathletics.com and will also feature live updates during the games on Webster's athletics twitter (@GorlokSports).
 
Following its trip to Florida, the Gorloks will take a week off before opening up St. Louis Intercollegiate Conference play on Saturday, March 24 with a doubleheader beginning at 12 p.m. at Greenville University.