LAKELAND, FLA.-- It took a total of almost nine hours, but there was no denying the Fire this weekend. After an 11-3 win, Southeastern finished off the three-game sweep over Sun Conference opponent Ave Maria, 8-4 after a three-hour lightning delay.
In game one, Southeastern gave starting pitcher
Nate Harmon a four-run lead to work with. Four straight hits to lead off the second inning put the Fire on the board, and a
Zach Hessinger double knocked in another pair of runs.
The Fire plated another three runs in the bottom of the fourth.
Chris Mattison,
Derek Martin, and
Luis Diaz all tacked on an RBI in the inning to take 7-1 lead. Southeastern added another the next inning; with two outs,
Marcus Guzman was hit by a pitch, stole second, and was knocked in by Hessinger. Hessinger had his best game of the year, as he went 4-5 with two doubles, and three RBI.
Harmon earned the win, as the righty went six innings, giving up three runs on six hits. He struck out seven and walked six.
Jonathan Martin,
Josh Egert, and
Dylan Jameson all worked an inning each to preserve the victory.
The Fire jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning of game two. Hessinger scored on a Mattison double, and after being lifted for courtesy runner
Hunter Bonner, came around to score when Martin roped a double down the left field line. Diaz followed with a two-run homer to make it four after an inning.
Ave Maria came back to tie the game at four after the top of the fifth, but the Fire answered with another RBI double by Martin and scored another off a Gyrene error.
A lightning delay kept the teams off the field for about three hours; by the time play resumed, it was nighttime and the teams played under the lights. Martin and Egert kept the Gyrenes scoreless for the final four innings, and the Fire offense added a couple insurance runs when Martin knocked in another run with a single and scored later on an error.
Martin finished 3-4 with three runs scored and three RBI.
Angel Garced was 3-4 with a run scored, and Diaz finished 2-3 with a run scored, a home run, and two RBI.
The Fire will be back in action Friday night, as Warner University will come to Lakeland for a three game series. The first game is set for Friday night at 6 p.m., and the last two will take place Saturday afternoon.
