Fire Tames Cougars on Senior Night

LAKELAND, Fla.--Southeastern University finished their 2011 home schedule with an 8-3 victory over Clearwater Christian College, Tuesday night, on Senior Night at Broer Stadium.

The Fire fell behind, 2-0, after a sloppy first inning where they committed three errors.

Southeastern tied the score in the second inning, when Shane Casey scored on a groundout by senior Kyle Petrick, and then a single to right field by Josh Gordon brought senior Hector Echemendia into score.

The Fire took the lead, 3-2, in the third inning as Casey doubled down the right field line, scoring Justin Mauldin who was running for Kevin Kunnen. Kunnen reached base on a single to centerfield earlier in the inning.

SEU then scored four runs in the fourth inning to extend their lead to 7-2. Gerard D'Angelo started off the inning by being hit by a pitch, and moved over to third base on another single by Gordon. Next, Vinny Caesar knocked a hit to center, scoring D'Angelo making the score, 4-2. Billy Glessner followed with a single to left, which loaded the bases for Kunnen. Kunnen then plated Gordon on a fielder's choice, making the score 5-2. Once again Mauldin entered the game to run for Kunnen, and on the first pitch he stole second base, as Casey followed with a walk to load the bases. Next, Echemendia singled to left field, scoring Caesar to push the Fire's lead to 6-2. Senior, Tyler Ruehlman, then ended the scoring with a sacrifice fly to right-centerfield, scoring Mauldin to give the Fire a comfortable 7-2 lead.

From that point, the Fire pitching staff took over the game, and shutdown the Cougars offense. Starting pitcher, Dimitri Nunez, pitched three innings and allowed two unearned runs on three hits while striking out four batters.

Colin Harris pitched two innings of relief, and allowed just one hit to earn the win on the mound. Harris is now 3-0 with a 2.03 ERA over 13 innings pitched on the season.

Jason Higdon added a RBI double in the eighth inning to increase Southeastern's lead to 8-2.

Seniors Josh Estridge and Gabe Grinder combined to pitch the final four innings. Estridge threw two scoreless innings with three strikeouts while Grinder allowed an earned run on three hits to close the door on CCC.

Echemendia and Casey both finished 2-for-3 with a run, RBI, and two walks while Gordon finished 3-for-4 with two runs and a RBI.

Ruehlman added two hits in his final home game.

Broer Stadium was indeed friendly to the Fire over the 2011 season. Southeastern put together a school record 16-game home winning streak, and finished with 26-6 record at home.

Before the game, SEU Athletics Director Duane Aagaard and Fire Head Coach Jason Beck, said farewell to seven seniors; Alex Barron, Gerard D'Angelo, Josh Estridge, Kyle Petrick, Gabe Grinder, Hector Echemendia, and Tyler Ruehlman. Aagaard and Beck presented each senior with a framed picture, and took the beginning portion of the game to honor the seniors before the home crowd.

Southeastern is now 35-14 on the year, and will be on the road for their final six regular season games, starting this weekend in Savannah, Ga., when SEU faces off with Savannah College of Art & Design.

SENIOR NIGHT

Seniors, Hector Echemendia, Gerard D'Angelo, Josh Estridge, Kyle Petrick, Gabe Grinder, Alex Barron, and Tyler Ruehlman have combined to win over 150 games, while also helping the Fire transition out of the NCCAA D-II, and into the NAIA's Sun Conference. This group also won the 2008 NCCAA II National Championship while also contributing to the program's first ever NAIA National Ranking this season.

No. 7 Gerard D'Angelo:  Gerard is a two year player for Southeastern, after transferring from Polk State College in 2010…He worked out of the bullpen last season, before switching to an infielder this year…He is currently hitting .333 with four extra base hits, including a home run versus Southern Wesleyan University, on March 22nd. Gerard is also a team captain, and actively involved in the SEU Athletic Leadership Institute.

He is the son of Gerry and Jessica D'Angelo.

No. 24 Alex Barron: Alex threw the school's only no-hitter back on March 12, 2009 versus Valley Forge Christian College…He is second all-time with 254 innings pitched and 179 career strikeouts. His 20 career victories is good for third all-time. He has a career record of 20-11 with a 4.29 ERA. He is 5-2 this season with a 4.53 ERA in over 51 innings. Alex is a member of the 2008 NCCAA D-II National Championship team, where he was the winning pitcher in the clinching game versus Hillsdale Baptist College.

He is the son of Gerald and Debbie Barron.

No. 27 Kyle Petrick: Kyle is currently third all-time with 200 games played and 40 HBPs, while sitting fourth all-time with 171 RBIs and 45 doubles. He also stands top five with 209 hits and 131 runs scored. He is a member of the 2008 NCCAA D-II National Championship team, and was named the 2008 NCCAA D-II Freshman of the Year. He is also a two-time NCCAA D-II All-American, and has twice been named Sun Conference Player of the Week.

Kyle is the son of Russ and Patty Petrick.

No. 8 Josh Estridge: Josh set the school record for most home runs by a freshman with nine, back in 2008…He is a career .289 hitter with 11 home runs, 22 doubles, 41 stolen bases, 80 hits and 70 runs scored…In 2010, Josh was converted to a pitcher, and has made over 30 appearances the past two years. This season he is 1-1 with a 2.92 ERA in 24.2 innings, while holding hitters to just a .198 average. He was named a 2008 NCCAA II First Team All-American while also being a member of SEU's 2008 NCCAA D-II National Championship.

Josh is the son of Bob and Stephanie Estridge.

No. 33 Gabe Grinder: Gabe has been a three-year player for the Fire, after transferring to Southeastern from IUP back in 2009…In 2009, Gabe set the single season saves record with 14, and is also the program's all-time leader in saves with 17…He was named a 2009 NCCAA D-II All-American Honorable Mention while being selected as a First Team All-Region Player. He has a career record of 6-9 with a 3.13 ERA in over 68 innings pitched. Gabe has held hitters to a .212 average for his career, which is good for second all-time.

Gabe is the son of Scott and Lynn Grinder and the husband of Teressa Grinder.

No. 5 Hector Echemendia:  Hector is second all-time with 202 games played, 56 HBPs, and 115 walks…He is also top five in school history with 162 runs scored and 220 total bases…Hector has 35 career doubles, 157 career hits, and over 530 career at-bats which places in seventh place all-time. He is a member of the 2008 NCCAA D-II National Championship team, where as a freshman he knocked in the game winning run in the championship game versus Hillsdale Free Will Baptist…Hector also hit for the cycle as a sophomore and has a .477 on-base percentage for his career, which is good for fifth all-time.

He is the son of Hector and Pincy Echemendia.  

No. 12 Tyler Ruehlman: Tyler is already the school's all-time leader with 288 hits, 210 games played, 736 career at-bats, 81 doubles, and 468 total bases. He is currently second with 188 runs, and third all-time with 201 RBIs and 29 home runs. In 2009, he tied the school record by hitting .464 for the season, while being named the region and national player of the year. He was a member of the 2008 NCCAA D-II National Championship team and is a two time NCCAA D-II All-American. In 2010, he led The Sun Conference in hits with 80 while hitting .455 and being named Second Team All-Sun Conference. He was also named a NCCAA D-I First Team All-American.

He is the son of Dan and Becky Ruehlman.