WINTER HAVEN, Fla.—Not once, but twice
Alex Stephens came through with a clutch hit in the bottom of the ninth to help Southeastern beat Thomas.
In the first game of the doubleheader, Stephens hit a sacrifice fly to left field with a full count to score
Jadan Garcia to cap a three-run ninth, giving the Fire a 6-5 win.
In the second game, a two-out double to left scored
Luis Diaz and
De'John Suber to give the Fire an 8-7 win, and move to 15-0 on the season.
It was the bat of Diaz that had the Fire in a position to win the first game. The senior was responsible for a third of SEU's hits, going a perfect 5-for-5 with three runs scored and three driven in. This included a solo homer in the fifth with the Fire trailing 3-1 at the time.
The bats seemed to wake up after that as Diaz singled in
Angel Garced in the seventh to make it a 5-3 game.
Adrian Rivera came away with his first win as a member of the Fire, throwing 3.1 innings in relief of
Jamal Wilson. Rivera gave up one unearned run on two hits, struck out two and walked two.
In the second game, the Fire got off to a fast start, getting RBI singles from Stephens,
Mike D'Acunti, and
Gerald Ceballos to take a 3-0 lead at the end of the first. The lead stretched to 6-2 thanks to an RBI single by Diaz in the second, and an RBI double by D'Acunti along with an RBI single from
Danny Acevedo in the third.
The Fire bats went silent all the way until the ninth as Holden Alexander went on to throw five scoreless innings in relief, and at one point, retired 16 straight Fire hitters.
This allowed the Night Hawks to slowly chip away at the deficit, making it a one-run game (6-5) heading to the ninth.
Thomas was able to load the bases, capitalizing on two Fire errors, which came around to score and gave the Night Hawks a 7-6 lead.
With two outs, Diaz came up with a single to left, then Suber was hit by a pitch to set the stage for Stephens.
Brandon Goff picked up the win, recording the final two outs of the ninth.
Nate Harmon threw the first 4.1, allowing five earned on seven hits with five strikeouts and a walk.
The Fire will travel to NCAA Division II Eckerd on Tuesday.
