LAKELAND, Fla. – The No. 4 Southeastern University baseball team is off to a torrid start to the 2018 campaign. At 19-0, the Fire are off to their best start in program history. SEU is fresh off its third straight Sun Conference series sweep, after taking down Thomas on the road this past weekend. The Fire outscored the Night Hawks 35-8 on the series. In the 18-1 win in game two of the series, head Coach
Adrian Dinkel earned the 300
th win of his collegiate head coaching career. Coach Dinkel and the Fire look to continue building on this historic start with a slate of non-conference action at Ted A. Broer Stadium this week.
GAMES: No. 4 Southeastern (19-0) vs. Mt. Vernon Nazarene (5-0) Tuesday 6:00 p.m.
No. 4 Southeastern (19-0) vs. RV Judson (2-0) Friday 6:30 p.m. | Saturday 12:00/3:00 p.m.
COVERAGE: Watch/Live Stats
FIRE POWER: The Southeastern bats have belted the long ball at the plate as of late. The Fire have launched 16 home runs over their last five games. Impressively, 11 different players have went yard for the Fire during that stretch. Junior outfielder
Manuel Mesa is responsible for three of those dingers, the most of any SEU player. Mesa scored nine runs out of the leadoff position for Southeastern this past weekend versus Thomas and drove in seven runs with his bat to push his season batting average to .481.
BERMUDEZ TRIANGLE: Junior southpaw
Jonathan Bermudez has baffled opposing bats at the plate thus far. The Polk State transfer is 4-0 on the season with a 1.50 ERA and 33 strikeouts. Versus Thomas, Bermudez tossed six frames of two-hit baseball. He has not allowed an extra base hit in 19 and a third innings pitched.
FIRE ALL-TIME: This will be the first time SEU has taken on Mount Vernon Nazarene since the 2015 season. The Fire and the Cougars met for five consecutive seasons from 2011-15. SEU leads the all-time series 8-3. Southeastern faces Judson for just the second time in program history. The Fire were victorious in the lone meeting with the Eagles in 2006 11-0.
THE COUGARS: The Fire host Mount Vernon for the Cougars first of 12 games to be played in Florida for their participation in the Russ Matt Tournament. The Cougars finished fourth in the Crossroads League last season. This year's squad features 12 freshman. Senior outfielder Jesse Staudt provides veteran leadership for this year's squad. After leading the team with seven home runs in 2017, Staudt put his power on full display in the Cougars' fall portion of the season. The Cochranton, Pa. native hit .438 at the plate with three long balls during that five game stretch. Junior right handed pitcher Trenton Wood looks to post another solid year on the mound. The Troy transfer went 7-1 last season with a 3.05 ERA, which ranked fourth in the Crossroads.
THE EAGLES: Judson is looking to take the next step as a program who has enjoyed a recent rise in success. The Eagles have won eight Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference championships in the last six seasons, including both regular season and postseason tournament, and have earned a berth in the NAIA Opening Round four of the last five seasons. Senior infielder Cullen Mayhew and senior outfielder David Matthews are the top returning bats for Judson. Both players tied for a team best seven homers last season while driving in a combined 106 runs. The Eagles will be without all of their weekend starters from 2017. Looking to fill in the gaps will be senior righty Dan Gerke, who was 4-0 with a 4.26 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 19 appearances for Judson last season.
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