LAKELAND, Fla.—Stellar pitching and a trio of home runs paved the way for the Southeastern University baseball team to win their Sun Conference opener against the Thomas Nighthawks 8-0.
Head coach
Adrian Dinkel talked about his team's dominant performance, "I thought we played a good game all around, there was a lot of hard-hit balls today that didn't land. I was happy with the effort, we just got to roll into tomorrow and continue to improve."
Senior transfer
Drew Gillespie got the nod to start the three-game set and had the NightHawks guessing the entire night. He pitched eight shutout innings and struck out eight batters, only surrendering one hit and walked one.
Gillespie credited the game plan he and catcher
Shamir Morales executed to the success he had, "Shamir [Morales] talked about the game plan before the game and we just went out and executed. I don't think I've ever pitched a game where I went eight innings and never shook the catcher off once," said Gillespie.
Sam Faith got the scoring started for the Fire in the bottom of the second when he clubbed a solo home run over the right-field fence.
SEU would add two more in the inning courtesy of a NightHawk throwing error after a
Colton Onstott base hit.
An inning later
Nick Bottari hit his first of two home runs on the night, this one a two-run shot that plated
Pedro Castellano. Bottari's second homer of the night came in the seventh over the left-center field wall.
Thomas Broyles had a nice day at the plate as well for the Fire, going three-for-four with two runs scored.
The Fire (8-0, 1-0 TSC) continue their TSC-opening series against Thomas tomorrow in a doubleheader that is scheduled to start at 1:00 pm.
