WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.—Southeastern had to win five straight games over three days to claim its third Sun Conference Tournament title in program history.
In three of the five elimination games, the Fire got complete games from their starting pitcher.
The Fire beat USCB twice on Sunday after losing to the Sand Sharks in the first game of the tournament on Thursday, taking the first game 9-1 to force a winner-take-all game which SEU won 16-4.
"I thought our guys showed up ready to play and showed what kind of character they have," said coach
Adrian Dinkel. "Overall, I thought these guys did a great job competing and finding a way to get back through this tournament."
At the plate, the Fire got off to a 5-0 lead after two innings in the first game, highlighted by a
Luis Cabrera two-run homer to left.
That was more than enough for starting pitcher
D.J. Roberts, who threw his first complete game of the season after posting 17 total innings over his last 15 appearances. The junior from Jacksonville allowed just one run on a double in the third and gave up seven hits with six strikeouts and two walks to earn All-Sun Conference Tournament Team honors.
"I felt good the whole game and my stuff was working," said Roberts after earning his first win of the year. "I had good command of my fastball and changeup and went out and did my thing."
The Fire added two more runs in the third to answer the USCB RBI double in the top of the inning with an RBI single by
Austin James to score
Carter Bridge, and a
Jose Marcano RBI single to score James. In the fifth, Bridge hit an RBI double to left center. Marcano drove him in to give SEU an eight-run lead.
Bridge finished the first game 4-for-4 with three runs scored to earn a spot on the All-Tournament Team.
"We came out really flat the first day, and when you have that feeling of being eliminated and your backs are against the wall, it's nice to see each and every guy turn it up a notch and do what they are capable of doing," said Bridge. "It showed these last four games and showed when we have confidence and have something to play for, we show it."
The offense continued to produce in the second game, getting its first run in the top of the first on a throwing error then went up 2-0 on an RBI single by
Nick Bottari.
A four-run fourth put the Fire up 6-0 getting a two-run single by
Thomas Broyles and a sacrifice fly by
Colton Onstott, who earned all-tournament honors. SEU also got a run on a balk during the fourth. Bridge drove in another in the fifth with a double to left center and scored on single to left by James to go up 8-0.
Broyles finished 4-for-6 in the final game with two runs scored and two RBIs.
A five-run sixth put the game out of reach, with
Pedro Castellano bringing in two with a single through the right side and a three-run homer by Bridge to make it 13-0.
Bridge finished with a tournament-best 12 hits and .500 average and seven RBIs. Castellano also earned all-tournament recognition with a tournament-high 11 RBIs, including a solo home run in the eighth to put the Fire up 14-2.
James added an RBI single in the eighth to push the lead to 13 and a double by Castellano made it 16-2 in the ninth. Castellano was 4-for-6 with two runs scored and four RBIs in the final. James finished 3-for-5 with two RBIs and a run scored.
Nick Bottari was 3-for-5 in the final with two runs scored and earned a spot on the all-tournament team.
On the mound,
Ronnie Voacolo earned his second win of the season, throwing six innings and allowing just two earned runs on five hits with five strikeouts and one walk. Previously, Voacolo's longest outing of the season was three innings.
Christian Camacho also earned all-tournament honors for his complete game shutout on Friday in which he allowed just one hit.
The Fire will learn its path to the Avista-NAIA World Series on Thursday when the brackets are revealed for the Opening Round. SEU will host one of the nine sites which begin play on Monday, May 17
th.
