Box Score FORT MYERS, Fla.—Facing elimination from The Sun Conference Baseball Tournament, the Fire needed a great effort from all involved against Thomas.
Senior pitcher Patrick Kinney got the message loud and clear.
The Indianapolis native gave up one run on five hits over eight innings of work, helping Southeastern (37-18) beat Thomas 6-1.
Kinney also struck out five of the 29 hitters he faced with just three walks. He coaxed eight groundouts, three of which turned into double plays.
SEU also got after it offensively right from the get go. In the first inning, the Fire loaded the bases with no outs and got an RBI single from Cody Hoffner and an RBI groundout from Luis Diaz to take a 2-0 lead. It added a run in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Stetson McCollin to score Diaz, who reached on an error.
A solo home run by Willi Martin, his second of the tournament gave the Fire a 4-0 lead in the seventh.
Thomas (23-24-1) got its only run in the eighth on a fielder's choice with runners at second and third.
The Fire came back and added two more on two hits and two errors in the ninth. Aaron Sheaks scored on a wild pitch, then Josiel Colon singled in Hunter Bonner.
Southeastern will now take on South Carolina Beaufort on Sunday at 3 p.m. with the winner advancing to Monday's championship.
