LAKELAND, Fla. – The No. 3 Southeastern University baseball team is looking to conquer its final and most difficult stretch of Sun Conference play. In the remainder of April, SEU will square off against the second through fourth placed teams in the conference. Currently, the Fire are riding an eight game win streak, in which they have outscored opponents 87-25 and are batting a combined .374 at the plate. Southeastern is set to hit the road this weekend for a battle versus the No. 24 St. Thomas University Bobcats.
GAMES: (3) Southeastern (36-3, 15-1 TSC) vs. (24) St. Thomas (28-12, 11-7 TSC) Friday 6:00 p.m. | (3) Southeastern (36-3, 15-1 TSC) vs. (24) St. Thomas (28-12, 11-7 TSC) Saturday 12:00/3:00 p.m.
COVERAGE: Live Stats Video
MARTIN'S MARK: Redshirt sophomore infielder
Derek Martin has been making his mark in conference action thus far. The Odessa native is hitting a monstrous .459 with 11 runs scored, a homer, five runs batted in, and an on base percentage of .545 in TSC play. Martin has displayed great discipline at the plate as of late, having only struck out four times in his last 44 at bats.
PREVIOUSLY ST. THOMAS: The Fire dropped two of three in the regular season to then No. 2 St. Thomas last season.
Mike D'Acunti went 2-4 at the plate with a two run homer in the 6-5 SEU win over the Bobcats in game one of the series.
Josh Egert pitched a scoreless ninth to preserve the win and earn the save. The Fire dropped both games of the Saturday doubleheader to the Bobcats 11-8 and 5-4. SEU bounced back to knock off STU 11-6 in the first round of the conference tournament.
Angel Garced went 3-5 with four runs batted in. Southeastern trails St. Thomas in the all-time series 14-11 since joining the NAIA in 2009.
THE BOBCATS: St. Thomas is coming off a series loss at home to Webber International in which the Warriors took two of three. The STU pitching staff struggled on the mound versus Webber, posting a team ERA of 6.33 on the weekend. However, that series was an anomaly compared to previous outings, as the Bobcats rank 12
th in the NAIA in team ERA at 3.21. Senior infielder Michael Centeno has been the power source for the Bobcats as of late. In his last nine games, Centeno is batting .351 with six dingers and 12 RBI. The Miami native also has some wheels, as he is 15-16 on stolen base attempts this season.
Be sure to follow @SEUFireBaseball for all of the latest updates.
