LAKELAND, Fla. – The No. 1 Southeastern University baseball team began their quest to repeat as NAIA-Avista World Series Champions with a tough slate of action. After splitting a mid-week non-conference doubleheader versus Ave Maria, the Fire earned a monumental non-conference series win on the road versus No. 3 Georgia Gwinnett, taking two of three from the Grizzlies. The Fire gritted out an 8-5 victory in an 11-inning finale versus GGC to cement the series victory. SEU treks forward in its tough slate of contests to open the 2019 season with the team's Sun Conference opening series versus the No. 18 Webber International University Warriors this weekend at Ted A. Broer Stadium. This also marks the 2019 home-opener for the Fire.
SERIES: No. 1 Southeastern (3-2) vs. No. 18 Webber International (3-1)
Friday 6:30 p.m. | Saturday 12:00/3:00 p.m.
LIVE COVERAGE: WATCH/LIVE STATS
FIRE FOCUS:
- Southeastern excelled in the latter frames of the Opening Week slate, outscoring Ave Maria and Georgia Gwinnett 16-4 in the seventh inning or later.
- Junior outfielder Mike Taylor Jr. has found success hitting in the two hole in the early goings of the season, hitting .444 with three runs batted in and a run scored in each game for the Fire thus far.
- Junior right-handed pitcher Kyle Wilson turned in a 2-0 performance on the mound during the first week of play for SEU. Wilson's week was highlighted by a six-inning relief win versus GGC in which he struck out six Grizzlies.
- 10 of the 15 runs batted in by the Fire so far have been off the bats of newcomers.
SOAK UP THE SUN:
- The Fire are 40-8 all time in Sun Conference play under head coach Adrian Dinkel.
- During that stretch SEU has outscored conference opponents on average of 8.6-4.7.
- Southeastern has won four-straight TSC Openers.
ALL-TIME SERIES:
- The Fire lead the all-time series versus the Warriors 26-22.
- Senior outfielder Manuel Mesa hit .538 (7-13) versus the Warriors in the regular season series last season.
THE WARRIORS:
- The defending Sun Conference Tournament Champions have had a start to the 2019 campaign filled with mixed results. After sweeping Warner in a non-conference doubleheader, the Warriors split another two-game non-TSC set to No. 6 St. Thomas before dropping another non-conference game to Ave Maria.
- Junior outfielder Willie Carter has had a hot start at the plate for WIU, hitting .389, belting three home runs, and driving in six runs in his first 18 at-bats.
- On the mound, senior right-handed pitcher Zak Spivy has picked up where he left off in 2018. Spivy is 2-0 through two starts with a 0.64 ERA. Against St. Thomas, he tossed eight innings and struck out 10.
- Webber International has outscored opponents 21-5 in the seventh inning or later thus far.
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