LAKELAND, FLA.-- It was a tale of two games for Fire baseball. In a daytime doubleheader, the Fire split with Cornerstone University by scores of 4-3 and 13-1.
In the first game, it was all about Golden Eagles (1-7) left-hander Ben Sheckler. The 6-8 lefty shut down the Fire (14-11) lineup in a complete-game masterpiece. Sheckler wound up with 13 strikeouts while giving up two earned runs in the Cornerstone 4-3 victory.
The only offense that the Fire could muster came courtesy of the Cornerstone defense; in a rare occurrence, the Fire plated a run on a dropped-third strike on two straight hitters.
Aaron Sheaks came across to score from third on a dropped-third strike wild pitch to
Luis Diaz. After Diaz stole second base,
Sean Anderson struck out but reached first on a wild throw from Cornerstone catcher Adam Harvey, which allowed Diaz to score all the way from second.
Cornerstone was held scoreless until the fifth inning, when the Golden Eagles struck for three runs (one earned) off
Brandon Goff to take a 3-2 lead. Southeastern tied it up when
Derek Martin drove in
Hunter Bonner with a sacrifice fly to tie it at three. Cornerstone was able to squeeze the go-ahead run across in the top of the seventh off of
F.T. Corso (1-1). Southeastern had an opportunity to tie the game in the bottom half of the frame, but Cornerstone stranded the tying Fire run at third base to end the game.
In game two, the Fire had their revenge. It didn't take long for the Fire offense to figure out Kyle Marburger;
Mike D'Acunti smashed a three-run home run, his fourth of the year to put the Fire up 3-0 in the first.
In the third,
Chris Mattison introduced himself to Marburger, as the junior launched a no-doubter over the center field fence for a solo home run, his ninth of the year.
Josiel Colon drove in Martin with a sacrifice fly in the fourth as the Fire took a 5-0 lead.
It all came apart for Cornerstone in the bottom of the sixth. Southeastern struck for eight runs on seven hits; the Fire offense sent 14 men to the plate in the inning.
Baziel Cabrera recorded two hits in the inning. All but one hit for the Fire offense in that inning was a single.
Jordan Gard (3-2) pitched a good game for Southeastern. The lefty went seven strong, scattered four hits, three walks, and gave up one run while striking out six.
Southeastern will be back in action on Monday night, as #12 Bellevue College will come to town. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
