LEWISTON, Idaho – The No. 4 Southeastern University baseball team has had a historic 2018 campaign. The Fire have set new single-season program bests in wins (54), home runs (90), and won their first NAIA Opening Round Championship last week in Kingsport to earn the program's first ever berth in the NAIA World Series. However, the Fire are not done attempting to make history yet. SEU looks to make a run in the tournament, entering the field as the fifth-seeded team.
SCHEDULE:
NAIA World Series
At Lewiston, Idaho
Harris Field
All Times EST
Friday, May 25
Game 1: No. 8 Antelope Valley (Calif.) vs. No. 9 Reinhardt (Ga.), 11:30 a.m.
Game 2: No. 4 Oklahoma City vs. No. 5 Southeastern (Fla.), 2:30 p.m.
Game 3: No. 7 Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) vs. No. 10 Northwestern Ohio, 6:00 p.m.
Game 4: No. 3 St. Thomas (Fla.) vs. No. 6 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho), 10:00 p.m.
Saturday, May 26
Game 5: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 11:30 a.m.
Game 6: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 2:30 p.m.
Game 7: No. 1 Faulkner (Ala.) vs. Winner Game 1, 6:00 p.m.
Game 8: No. 2 Georgia Gwinnett vs. Winner Game 3, 9:30 p.m.
Monday, May 28
Game 9: Winner Game 5 vs. Loser Game 8, 11:30 a.m.
Game 10: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 7, 2:30 p.m.
Game 11: Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 7, 6:00 p.m.
Game 12: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 8, 9:30 p.m.
Tuesday, May 29
Game 13: Winner Game 9 vs. Loser Game 11, 2:00 p.m.
Game 14: Winner Game 10 vs. Loser Game 12, 6:00 p.m.
Game 15: Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 12, 9:30 p.m.
Wednesday, May 30
Game 16: TBD, 6:05 p.m.
Game 17: TBD, 9:35 p.m.
NOTE: Games 16 and 17 TBD by tournament committee
Thursday, May 31
Game 18: Winner Game 16 vs. Winner Game 17, 9:35 p.m., championship
Friday, June 1
Game 19: If necessary, 9:35 p.m.
MEDIA LINKS: LIVE STATS LIVE VIDEO
HOT BATS: After an uncharacteristically quiet Sun Conference Tournament, the Fire bats exploded in the Opening Round, combining to hit .320, with 13 extra-base hits, and a .515 team slugging percentage during the three game stretch. The Fire top bat in Kingsport was junior utility man
Dan Valerio, who totaled 12 bases in 12 at-bats due to his six hits, four of which went for extra bases. On the season, Valerio leads the team in hits (92), RBI (79), and is hitting a team-best .438 with runners in scoring position. In the four-six holes in the SEU batting order, Valerio is accompanied by junior first baseman
Nick Bottari and junior designated hitter
Ivan Nunez. Those three have combined this postseason to hit .382 at the plate and have accounted for 42.8% of the Southeastern team RBIs.
TOSSING HEAT: The Fire bullpen was pivotal to SEU punching its first ever ticket to Lewiston. In the Opening Round, the Southeastern bullpen combined to post a 0.88 ERA in 10.2 innings pitched, earned a win, and was a perfect 3-3 in save opportunities. Junior right-handed pitcher
Jared Crescentini was specifically astounding, surrendering just one hit in 3.2 frames worked and earning two of the three SEU saves. Top two Fire starting pitchers junior lefty
Jonathan Bermudez and senior righty
Jordan Scott each tied the single-season program record for wins in Kingsport at 13 and look to set a new high mark in Idaho.
FIRST FOR THE FIRE: SEU is first tasked with the fourth-seeded Oklahoma City University Stars in the first round of the tournament. The Stars are making their second consecutive World Series appearance and 16
th overall. The Stars lead the NAIA with a .363 team batting average, .607 slugging percentage, 10.43 runs scored per game, 9.72 RBIs a game, 35 triples and 0.60 triples per contest. The top bat in the OCU lineup is senior C/OF Lane Milligan, who leads the team in batting average (.458), triples (15), home runs (15), runs batted in (86), and slugging percentage (.854). His marks in RBIs and triples lead the NAIA, with his 15 triples setting a new national single-season record. Milligan has reached base safely in 26 consecutive contests. On the mound the Stars hold a 3.21 staff ERA, which ranks sixth in the NAIA. Their rotation is anchored by sophomore righty Bryce Milligan (10-1, 2.14 ERA). Milligan has tossed back to back complete games and has earned five wins in his last five starts.
Be sure to follow @SEUFireBaseball on Twitter for all of the latest updates from Lewiston.
