Southeastern Punches Ticket to TSC Championship with Elimination Wins

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.- The No. 2 Southeastern University baseball team made major strides in their climb back into contention for The Sun Conference Baseball Tournament crown. The top-seeded Fire first eliminated the fourth-seeded Keiser University Seahawks 8-3 before grinding out a 7-6 victory over the fifth-seeded Warner University Royals 7-6 in their second elimination game of the day.


GAME ONE:

For the second-consecutive game, the Fire saw their starting pitcher go the distance, as senior left-handed pitcher Ryan Munoz tossed a career-high 121 pitches in nine innings, allowed three earned runs, walked just one, and struck out 10 Seahawks. With the winning decision, Munoz improved to 10-0 on the season.


Offensively, the Fire got to work early, as senior infielder Pedro Castellano doubled home Colton Onstott and Nick Bottari in the top of the first to put SEU ahead of KU 2-0. The Fire tacked on two more in the top of the second to grow their advantage over the Seahawks 4-0.


After Keiser got one back in the bottom of the second on a solo home run, the Fire continued to produce quality at-bats at the plate. Back-to-back RBI doubles by Onstott and senior outfielder Anthony Carrera in the top of the fifth pushed SEU out to a 6-1 lead.


Bottari blasted his 21st home run of the season in the top of the sixth, a two-run shot to left-center to put the Fire up 8-1. A pair of Keiser runs in the bottom of the eighth trimmed the Southeastern lead to 8-3. However, Munoz closed the door on the Seahawks in the bottom of the ninth with a clean frame.


GAME TWO:

The Fire found themselves at an early 3-0 deficit to the Royals, as Warner scored two on a two-run home run in the top of the first and one more in the top of the second on an RBI-single.


SEU got one back in the bottom of the third on an RBI-single by Thomas Broyles to right field that scored Jose Marcano and trimmed the deficit to 3-1.


Senior right-handed pitcher Jayden Hartle responded on the mound for SEU after a tough start, tossing four-straight scoreless innings from the top of the third throughout the top of te sixth.


Southeastern made its move in the bottom of the fifth with three runs on two hits. An RBI-grounder off the bat of Carter Bridge scored Onstott and gave the Fire their first lead over the Royal 4-3. 


Warner responded with an RBI-single in the top of the seventh to tie things back up with SEU 4-4. 


The Fire retaliated in the bottom of the seventh. Senior infielder Austin James lifted the go-ahead two-RBI single to center field with the bases loaded to score Bottari and Onstott and put the Fire back on top 6-4. A Warner miscue later in the inning allowed another Southeastern run to score, growing the Fire advantage to 7-4.


Warner attempted a rally in the top of the ninth and got two runs across to lower the Fire lead to 7-6. However, junior right-handed pitcher DJ Roberts entered the inning with one out and closed the door on the Royals to earn his second save of the season.


The Fire now take on the sixth-seeded USCB Sand Sharks in the championship round tomorrow morning at 11:00 a.m. SEU must defeat USCB twice in order to capture the TSC crown.