ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The RV Southeastern University baseball team continued its unblemished start to the 2017 campaign with a 9-7 win over the NCAA Division II Eckerd College Tritons on Tuesday night. At 16-0 on the season, the Fire are riding the program's longest win streak since SEU joined the NAIA in 2009.
Senior infielder
Luis Diaz willed the Fire to an early 1-0 lead. The Miami native led off the top of the first with a double, stole third base, and then scored on a balk by Eckerd pitcher Robin Allen.
After the Tritons brought one across in the bottom of the first, senior outfielder
Luke Maher responded with an RBI single in the top of the second scoring
Jadan Garcia.
Eckerd strung together its strongest inning of the night in the bottom of the third, driving in three runs on two hits and two walks to take a 4-2 lead over SEU.
Southeastern answered back immediately in the top of the fourth with a big five run inning. The Fire capitalized on two based loaded opportunities with a pair of base hits from senior infielder
Alex Stephens and senior catcher
Gerald Ceballos that each scored two runs. Ceballos finished the night 2-5 at the plate with a team high three runs batted in.
"I didn't think we played very well tonight but we'll take a win any way we can…I'm proud of our guys for competing and finding ways to get it done," shared Head Coach
Adrian Dinkel.
The Tritons answered back with two runs of their own in the bottom of the fifth to cut the Fire lead to 7-6.
Southeastern scratched across a run each in the top half of the fifth and sixth off RBI singles from Diaz and Ceballos.
Solid defensive play by the Fire doused opportunities in which the Tritons were threatening late in the game. SEU retired Eckerd on double plays in the bottom of the sixth and seventh.
Graduate righty
Mike Ruppenthal stepped on the mound in the bottom of the ninth and shutdown any hopes of a rally by the Tritons. The Bloomfield Hills, Mich. native recorded two punch outs to earn his first save of the season.
