St. Thomas University baseball players named to NAIA All-American Preseason Team

St. Thomas University baseball players Orlando Rodriguez and Jackie Urbaez were recently named to the NAIA Preseason All-American team.
Rodriguez, the senior ace of the Bobcat's pitching staff, is coming off a stellar junior season. In 2018, Rodriguez finished the season with a 14-1 record, a 2.75 ERA and led STU with 125 strikeouts in 98.1 innings pitched. Rodriguez's 14 wins placed him second in the NAIA in the category as he was named as a First-team All-American following the St. Thomas’ NAIA World Series run.
Urbaez is the second member of the St. Thomas University Baseball program to be named as a preseason NAIA All-American. Urbaez paced the NAIA-leading Bobcat offense, ranking nationally in several categories – first in runs scored (87), eighth in hits (96), tenth in RBI (74) and eleventh in doubles (23).
Urbaez finished his junior season batting 390, mashing nine home runs and swiping nine bases, while being named a Second-team NAIA All-American, as St. Thomas advanced to their sixth NAIA World Series appearance in program history.
Rodriguez and Urbaez are part of a veteran-core of Bobcat Baseball players as the team looks to improve upon a record-breaking season in 2018, which featured the most wins in program history (56), the regular Sun Conference Championship, NAIA Opening Round Championship and a NAIA World Series berth.
St. Thomas University was ranked sixth in the NAIA Preseason Coaches' Poll on November 6. STU is one of four Sun Conference teams ranked in the initial poll, as Southeastern opened as No.1, Webber International No. 18 and Keiser No. 24.