WINTER HAVEN, Fla.—Southeastern University will host its third NAIA National Championship Opening Round of the 2020-21 season as five teams head to Chain O' Lakes in Winter Haven for the Lakeland Bracket of the NAIA Baseball World Series.
Three of the Top 18 from the final NAIA Baseball Coaches' Top 25 will be coming to the former Spring Training home of the Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians for a nine-game tournament beginning Monday at 11 a.m.
Southeastern won five-straight elimination games to win The Sun Conference Championship for the first time since 2017. Following a 10-6 loss to USCB in the first game of the tournament, the Fire got a complete game one-hitter from
Christian Camacho against St. Thomas, and also got complete games from
Ryan Munoz in an 8-3 win over Keiser and
D.J. Roberts against USCB to force the if necessary game.
At the plate,
Carter Bridge led the tournament with 12 hits and a .500 average.
Pedro Castellano added a tournament-best 11 RBIs, belting a pair of homers.
Nick Bottari lived up to his billing as The Sun Conference Player of the Year, adding 11 hits and a .458 average. The Wading River, N.Y. native added to his school-record home run total which currently sits at 21.
SEU's pitching staff has a team ERA of 3.45 and have struck out 530 hitters in 448.2 innings this season.
The Fire have some recent history with three of the four other teams competing for a trip to the Avista-NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho. One of which could be SEU's first opponent Monday at 6:30 p.m.
USCB is the No. 4 seed in the Lakeland Bracket and will face No. 5 Fisher in the first game of the tournament with the winner facing the Fire. The Sand Sharks are responsible for two of SEU's seven losses this season. Leandy Castro is the top bat in the lineup for first season coach Ted Falkner with 85 hits with 22 doubles. Opponents have hit .277 against USCB pitching, which has a staff ERA of 5.43.
This is USCB's first trip to the Opening Round since 2016, when it hosted one in Savannah, Ga.
Fisher qualified for the first time in program history by finishing as the runner-up in the Association of Independent Institution Championship, losing to Georgia Gwinnett 12-4 in the semifinal, then knocking off Xavier 12-9 to make the championship where the Falcons lost 12-3 to GGC. Ivanuel Hernandez has a .330 average this season with 13 doubles and a .548 slugging percentage. Jordan Gosselin has posted a .476 average in 30 games, driving in 22. On the mound, the Falcons have a 6.15 team ERA and opponents have hit .281 against them.
The 3 p.m. game features a pair of teams SEU has seen in an Opening Round in years past. In 2019, Southeastern won the Macon Bracket which was hosted by this year's No. 2 seed, Middle Georgia State. The Knights will take on No. 3 seed Bryan which ended the 2015 Fire baseball season at the Daytona Beach Opening Round.
Middle Georgia received an at-large bid to make their fifth trip to the opening round in program history. It also marks the second time this season a Middle Georgia team has come to Southeastern for an Opening Round as the Fire women's soccer team hosted Middle Georgia last month as part of the Lakeland Bracket. The Knights were 16
th in the final coaches' rating and have a staff ERA of 4.94 but have punched out 451 batters in 415 innings this season. Garrett Martin has rung up 111 hitters in 86.1 innings.
Ryan Wilson is the top hitter for coach Paul Knight with a .388 average and 38 RBIs.
Bryan comes to Chain O' Lakes ranked 16
th in the final poll and winners of the Appalachian Athletic Conference Pool B. As a team, the Lions have 79 home runs in 51 games this year. Wade Weinburger Jr. and Jacob Justice each have 16 homers and have combined to drive in 114 runs.
Joseph Cuomo leads the Bryan pitching staff with an 8-3 record and a 3.80 ERA. As a team, the Lions have a staff ERA of 5.52.
Tickets are sold by the day for $10 per person and are available at SEUFire.com/tickets. All games will be live video streamed at SEUFire.com/watch. Monday and Tuesday will feature three games at 11 a.m., 3 p.m., and 6:30 p.m. Wednesday will be two games at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. If the ninth game is needed, it will take place Thursday at 11 a.m.
For the complete schedule and tournament information, visit
SEUFire.com/baseballopeninground.
