LAKELAND, Fla.—The Fire bats were as cold as the February temperature, but
Bryce Mulcahy and the rest of the Southeastern pitchers held Grand View at bay until the bats came alive.
The Fire used a five-run fourth to pull away from Grand View 8-0 in the first of a three-game series.
Mulcahy allowed three hits over four innings, posting seven strikeouts against one walk to the 16 batters he faced. The first four outs he recorded were all by strikeouts, and the first hit he allowed was a soft infield single with two outs in the second.
Southeastern (3-1) flew out for four of its first six outs, but started to string things together in the third with a leadoff bunt single by
Blake Buckman, followed by a walk drawn by
Benito Varela. With two outs and two on,
Zach Cornell ripped a double to the right field corner to score both runners.
After Mulcahy worked a 1-2-3 fourth, the Fire had the bases loaded and two outs, and scored a run on an error to take a 3-0 lead. In the next at bat,
Abdel Guadalupe hit a grand slam over the left field wall for his first hit of the season and put SEU up seven.
In the fifth,
Francisco Soriano had a pinch-hit solo homer for his first hit with Southeastern.
Out of the bullpen,
Zack Comins worked two innings with three strikeouts and allowed one hit in his first appearance, and
Cody Hawthorne struck out three and walked one in a scoreless seventh.
Cornell finished the game 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
The two teams will meet Saturday for a doubleheader beginning at noon.
