Baseball | 3/16/2017 9:00:00 AM
LAKELAND, Fla. - With four days of preparation for their conference series against Warner University, the Fire are looking to pick up right where they left off. The two ball clubs are off to impressive starts, but only one team can capture the weekend series.
Game 29: Southeastern University (26-2, The Sun Conference 6-0) at Webber International University (20-3, The Sun Conference 5-1)
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Lucky Number Seven:
- In the recent coaches poll released on March 7th, Southeastern is ranked seventh in the nation after their 19-1 start.
- The Fire are no strangers to the national rankings on the statistical front as well. Fire pitchers combine for 264 strikeouts which leads all of the NAIA.
- As a collective group, the Fire rank in the top ten of 18 statistical categories some of which include, triples, stolen bases, ERA, hits, and batting average.
- According to the Massey Ratings, the Fire possess the 15th best offense in all of NAIA baseball.
The Fire:
- Luis Diaz leads the Sun Conference in both batting average, hitting .431, and in stolen bases with 17.
- Both Alex Stephens and Mike D'Acunti are right on the heels of Diaz hitting .424 and .421, respectively
- D'Acunti the native of Dix Hills, New York is coming off of an impressive week where he hit .440 with two home runs and 5 RBIs.
- During last week's contests Gerald Ceballos put on a clinic. The transfer from Sterling College hit six homers, totalled 11 RBIs, and amassed a 1.115 slugging percentage. For his efforts Ceballos took home the award for Sun Conference Player of The Week for the second consecutive week.
- For the second week in a row, John Jaeger also took home the Sun Conference Pitcher of the Week Award. Throughout the season, the native of Tracy, California has been a reliable option out of the bullpen for head coach Adrian Dinkel. Over the stretch of eight games, Jaeger dealt five innings, striking out 10, and held opposing hitters to a .136 average.
The Royals:
- Coming off of a big 20-4 victory against , the Royals are set for five contests before their meeting with the Fire.
- As an offensive unit the Royals rank eighth in all of the NAIA in total hits with 287.
- The pitching staff ranks 16 in the NAIA in strikeouts with 187.
- Jesse Haney leads the Royal offensive attack with some impressive numbers through 100 at bats. The native of Tampa, Florida leads the team with a .352 average. Haney has also tallied 18 RBIs and a .457 on base percentage.
- The contribution from senior Josh Canabal has been immense thus far. The transfer from New York Institute of Technology is hitting .352 with four homers and 32 RBIs.
- On the slab Jordan Pike has been getting the job done. He has held opposing hitters to a .200 average and possesses a 1.76 ERA.
Previous Meetings:
- The Fire are 5-0 against the Royals sweeping the conference series and capturing two non-conference wins last year.
For updates on the action, follow @SEUFireBaseball on Twitter.
