LAKELAND, Fla. – For the first time in 34 days, the No. 3 Southeastern University baseball team will compete on the road. The Fire end their stretch of 20 straight games in Lakeland as they travel to West Palm Beach for a marque Sun Conference series versus the No. 13 Keiser University Seahawks.
GAMES: No. 13 Keiser (25-8, 7-6 TSC) vs. No. 3 Southeastern (37-2, 12-0 TSC)
Friday 2:00 p.m. | Saturday 12:00/3:00 p.m.
COVERAGE: Watch/Live Stats
FANNING THE SUN: The Fire have torched Sun Conference opponents thus far in 2018. At the plate, the Fire are hitting .325, with 45 extra-base hits, and are averaging 8.8 runs per TSC contest. The top SEU hitter in conference play has been junior infielder
Ivan Nunez, who leads the team in batting average (.447) and on-base percentage (.563) versus Sun Conference foes. On the mound, the Fire are allowing opposing TSC bats to hit a combined .203 at the plate with just 19 extra-base hits, and an average of 3.3 runs per game. On the mound, defending NAIA National Pitcher of the week
Jonathan Bermudez is 4-0 with a 0.62 ERA in Sun Conference Play. TSC offenses are batting just .097 versus the junior lefty and Bermudez has struck out 41.7 percent of the batters he has faced in conference.
FIRE ALL-TIME: The Fire trail the all-time series to the Seahawks 19-11. Southeastern defeated Keiser 11-3 to win The 2017 Sun Conference Tournament Championship in the last meeting between the two programs.
THE SEAHAWKS: Keiser is 4-3 over its last seven after having won 14 straight prior to that stretch. Senior catcher Carlos Pena is fresh off a hot series at the plate versus Webber, where he hit .600, launched two home runs, and drove in six runs. Junior outfielder Marco Rivera has been the top bat throughout the season for the Seahawks. Rivera leads The Sun Conference and ranks third in the NAIA in batting average at .496. The Vega Alta, Puerto Rico native also leads the NAIA in doubles (20) and is tied with SEU utility man
Dan Valerio for the lead in total hits at 59.
TALE OF THE TAPE:
SEU Keiser
Runs/Game 8.10 8.24
Team Batting Avg. .331 .347
Home Runs/Game 1.44 1.06
Stolen Bases/Game 2.80 0.64
Team ERA 2.66 3.68
Batters Struck Out/Game 9.95 7.00
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