SEU Pitching Staff Shines in Doubleheader Sweep of Edward Waters

LAKELAND, Fla.- The No. 1 Southeastern University baseball team stifled the Edward Waters College Tigers in a Tuesday afternoon seven-inning doubleheader. The Fire swept both games, taking the first contest 7-0 before closing things out 7-1 in the second outing.
 
Southeastern threw 13 different pitchers on the mound between the two contests. All in all, the Fire pitching staff allowed just one run and struck out 19 batters over 14 innings logged.
 
"I think our guys did a heck of a job pitching with intent and going after hitters all 14 innings," shared SEU head coach Adrian Dinkel. "Hopefully they build on this going into a tough conference series at Warner."
 
GAME ONE:
 
The Fire got on the board in the bottom of the third thanks to back-to-back RBI-singles by Jose Marcano and Pedro Castellano. Marcono's drive up the middle brought Austin James and Anthony Carrera home, while Catellano's base hit scored Colton Onstott to put the Fire ahead of the Tigers 3-0.
 
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Nick Houghton was the only Fire pitcher to toss multiple innings on the doubleheader, striking out three Tigers over a scoreless second and third frame. Houghton earned his first win on the season.
 
Southeastern opened the game up in the bottom of the sixth with a grand-slam home run over the left field wall, his first homer of the season, to put SEU ahead of EWC 7-0.
 
GAME TWO:
 
Southeastern scored in five of the six innings they appeared at the plate, taking a 7-0 lead over Edward Waters after five innings of play.
 
Austin James was 2-3 at the plate in the second game, driving in two runs, including one on a solo home run to left field to put the Fire up 5-0 in the bottom of the third.
 
Senior outfielder Raymond Gonzalez was a perfect 2-2 at the plate with an RBI and a walk.
Junior righty Al Pesto struck out the side in the top of the third, his lone inning tossed, to improve to 2-0 on the season.
 
"I went in there and pitched a lot of my fastball and felt like I did a good job with that," shared Pesto. "Pitch by pitch I felt like I was in a good head space and was able to pound the zone consistently."
 
The Fire continue Sun Conference play later this week, as they travel to Lake Wales to take on the Warner University Royals in a three-game series. Game one of the series is set for Thursday at 6:00 p.m. with a 12:00 and 3:00 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday.