Baseball Heads into First SUN Series of the Season

LAKELAND, Fla.- The 13-0 No. 3 Southeastern University baseball team will return back home this week after playing five games on the road last week as open Sun Conference play with the University of South Carolina Beaufort Sand Sharks with a double-header on Friday at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. and the final game of the series taking place at 12 p.m. on Saturday.
 
The Fire are coming off a 4-0 weekend at the Cajun Collision in Sterlington, L.A. where they completed wins over No. 7 Indiana University Southeast and No. 12 Loyola University.
 
The first SUN series for the Fire will come against the 4-7 Sand Sharks who are coming off a dropped series to Georgetown College after going 1-3 against the Tigers. As a team, the Sand Sharks have attained a .283 batting average and registered a .389 slugging percentage behind 15 doubles and three home runs. Brian Meyer finds himself at the top of many offensive categories for the Sand Sharks through his 11 starts with a .410 average, 10 RBIs, and 10 runs scored. The Sand Shark pitching staff has combined for an ERA of 5.04 and has conceded 89 hits through 84 innings pitched but have held their opponents to an average of .275. Brandon Blume has seen the most innings on the hill for the Sand Sharks with 17 and an ERA OF 2.65 behind 18 strikeouts and only two walks, giving up only five runs through his six appearances.
 
The No. 3 ranked Fire have continued their legacy as a power-hitting unit as they currently rank first nationally in home runs with 30, extra base hits with 60, and total bases with 264 while their .655 slugging percentage ranks third nationally. The unit has also proven the ability to hit for average as they have posted a combined .352 average and .446 on base percentage. Junior transfer Gary Lora has been the hottest Fire hitter with a team high seven home runs, 21 RBI's and a .467 average. Brian Fuentes does not loom far behind with six home runs of his own, 19 RBIs, and an average of .463. Reigning Florida NJCAA Pitcher of the Year, Robb Adams, has been the ace arm with a team-leading 19 innings pitched with 30 strikeouts and only nine hits for a miniscule ERA of 0.47 and an average of 14.21 strikeouts per nine innings.
 
The Fire and the Sand Sharks met up seven different times last season as USCB scratched out two wins against the Fire including the first game of the SUN tournament by a score of 10-6. The two teams then met again in the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round in Winter Haven, Fla. with the Fire taking the 10-5 victory to remain alive in the national tournament.
 
To purchase tickets to the SUN three-game series, go to https://southeastern.universitytickets.com/w/default.aspx?cid=177.