LAKELAND, Fla.—Two-out hitting was the key for the second-ranked Bobcats of St. Thomas in sweeping Saturday's Sun Conference baseball doubleheader against Southeastern.
The Bobcats won the first game of the day 11-8, and took the second by the count of 5-4.
Southeastern benefit from a pair of errors in the first inning in taking a 3-0 lead, getting an RBI single from
Derek Martin and a two-run double from
Angel Garced.
St. Thomas came back with two runs in the top of the second, then grabbed the lead for good, thanks to a five-run fourth on five hits.
Alex Fernandez settled down and retired 13 consecutive batters after the first inning, keeping the Fire bats at bay until the sixth inning. The senior picked up the win, hurling 5.2 innings, allowing four earned runs on six hits, and struck out eight.
Trailing 9-3 heading to the bottom of the sixth, the Fire plated three runs on four hits, getting a double from Martin, an RBI single from
Mac LeBoeuf, an RBI single from
Marcus Guzman, and an RBI groundout from
Luis Diaz to make it a three-run game.
In the eighth, a sacrifice fly, and a two-out solo home run gave the Bobcats some breathing room, leading 11-6 heading to the bottom of the eighth.
A two-run home run by
Luis Diaz got the Fire back within three, and the Fire had a runner on in the bottom of the ninth, but closer Chris Rodriguez was able to induce a double play, and coaxed a fly out to end the game.
St. Thomas got the scoring started in the second game, getting a two-out run on a throwing error, and picked up a second run on an error on a ground ball at third.
The Fire answered with two of their own in the second, getting an RBI groundout from
Sean Anderson, and an RBI single by Guzman.
Diaz hit an RBI single in the fourth, and Garced hit one in the fifth to give SEU a 4-3 lead.
STU tied the game in the seventh on an RBI single with one out, then tied it in the top of the ninth on a groundout with runners at first and third.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Fire had runners at first and second with one out, thanks to singles by
Chris Mattison and Martin, then loaded the bases after Garced drew a walk. A fielder's choice by
Danny Acevedo eliminated Mattison at the plate, and a fly out to right by Anderson ended the game.
Starting pitcher
Brandon Goff did not factor in the decision, leaving with the game tied after 6.2 innings of work, surrendering just one earned run on eight hits with four strikeouts.
The Fire return to action on Wednesday when they host first-year program IU South Bend for a doubleheader.
