Baseball Travels to Miami Gardens for Top-10 Series Versus St. Thomas

LAKELAND, Fla. – The No. 1 Southeastern University baseball team is picking up steam in Sun Conference play. At 15-0 in TSC action thus far, the Fire have just three regular season conference series remaining on the schedule. Southeastern's next task in league play will be traveling to Miami Gardens for a monumental weekend series versus the No. 10 St. Thomas University Bobcats.

SERIES INFO:
No. 1 Southeastern (39-4, 15-0 TSC) at No. 10 St. Thomas (31-11, 13-5 TSC)
Friday 6:00 p.m. | Saturday 12:00/3:00 p.m. | Paul Demie Mainieri Field | Miami Gardens, Fla.


COVERAGE: WATCH/LIVE STATS

FIRE FOCUS:

• The Fire offense leads the NAIA in 11 statistical categories, including Hits per Game (12), Home Runs per Game (1.9), Runs Scored per Game (10.6), Team Batting Average (.372), and Team Slugging Percentage (.632).
• Senior outfielder Manuel Mesa ranks second in the NAIA in Total Hits (74) and sixth in total bases per game (2.9).
• Mesa is coming off being named The Sun Conference Player of the Week, after becoming the first SEU player to hit for the cycle in over a decade. The Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic native accomplished the feat in just four at-bats.
• On the mound, the Fire lead the NAIA in Total Batters Struck Out (386), rank fifth in Team Earned Run Average (2.91), and 10^th in opponent batting average (.224).
• Senior right-handed pitcher Keven Long is a perfect 7-0 on the season, including 3-0 in Sun Conference starts. Long has went six or more in his last two TSC outings and is averaging 8.5 strikeouts.

 
 
SOAK UP THE SUN:

• The Fire are 55-8 all time in Sun Conference play under head coach Adrian Dinkel.
• Southeastern has outscored TSC opponents 169-39 this season.
• As an offensive unit, SEU is hitting .385 at the plate with an average of 4.9 extra-base hits per conference contest.
• On the mound in 2019, Fire arms have compiled a 2.47 ERA with 140 strikeouts in 124 innings pitched against TSC opponents.

 
ALL-TIME SERIES:

• Friday will mark the 37^th meeting all-time between the Fire and the Bobcats. Southeastern trails the all-time series 22-13.
• SEU has dropped four-straight regular season series to STU, having not taken a series from the Bobcats since 2014.

 
THE BOBCATS:

• The defending 2018 Sun Conference Regular Season Champions bounced back this past weekend after dropping their first TSC Series of the season the weekend prior to No. 21 Warner. STU took two of three from No. 25 Webber International at home. St. Thomas sits at second in the conference standings.
• The Bobcats rank fourth in the NAIA in Total Triples (16), 26^th in Runs Scored per Game, 43^rd in Hits per Game (9.5), and 43^rd in Team Slugging Percentage (.457).
• Senior shortstop Erick Delgado leads the STU lineup with a .362 average. Delgado leads the team with 12 doubles and is a perfect 15-15 in stolen base opportunities.
• On the mound, St. Thomas ranks 12^th in Opposing Batting Average (.229), 13^th in Total Batters Struck Out (322), and 24^th in Team Earned Run Average (3.88)
• Graduate Right-Handed Pitcher Orlando Rodriguez is 5-1 on the season 1.18 ERA. In 45.1 innings pitched, he's surrendered just six earned runs, which leads the NAIA.

 
TALE OF THE TAPE:

SEU
Runs per Game: 10.6
Team Batting Average: .372
Hits per Game: 12.0
Home Runs per Game: 1.9
Stolen Bases per Game: 2.1
Batters Struck Out per Game: 9.9
Team ERA: 2.91
Opponent Batting Average: .224
Individual Hits Leader: Manuel Mesa (74)
Individual RBI Leader:  Ivan Nunez (51)
Individual Home Run Leader: Abdel Guadalupe (12)
Individual Stolen Bases Leader: Manuel Mesa (23)
Individual Batters Struck Out Leader: Felix Dieguez (59)
Individual Wins Leader: Keven Long (7)
Individual Saves Leader: Heibert Romero (4)
 
STU
Runs per Game: 7.6
Team Batting Average: .302
Hits per Game: 9.5
Home Runs per Game: .76
Stolen Bases per Game: 1.5
Batters Struck Out per Game: 7.7
Team ERA: 3.88
Opponent Batting Average: .229
Individual Hits Leader: Chris Garabedian (53)
Individual RBI Leader: Sergio Lopez (52)
Individual Home Run Leader: Sergio Lopez (10)
Individual Stolen Bases Leader: Erick Delgado (15)
Individual Batters Struck Out Leader: Ian Expositio (78)
Individual Wins Leader: Ian Exposito (7)
Individual Saves Leader: Jason Grana (3)

Be sure to follow @SEUFireBaseball on Twitter for all of the latest updates on Fire baseball!