Baseball Hits the Road for the First Time this Season

LAKELAND, Fla.- After opening the 2022 season with a perfect 8-0 run, the No. 3 ranked Southeastern University baseball team will hit the road for the first time this season with a five game week highlighted by two Top 25 nationally ranked teams in No. 7 Indiana University Southeast and No. 12 ranked Loyola University.
 
The week will open up with a non-conference matchup against a Sun Conference opponent in Ave Maria University on Tuesday at 1 p.m. Through 13 games, the Gyrenes come into the week with a 8-4-1 record and are coming off a dropped series to No. 19 Middle Georgia State. As a team, the Gyrenes hold a batting average of .289 with 21 doubles and 14 home runs for a slugging percentage of .474. Jose Gonzalez has been the most successful Gyrene at the plate thus far as he has posted an average of .438 behind 13 starts behind three home runs and 16 RBI's. As a pitching staff, the Gyrenes hold a collective ERA of 4.43 with Cameron Horner, Kolby Pemberton, and Kevin Figueredo each getting three starts with Pemberton logging a team high 18.1 innings pitched.
 
The Fire will then spend the weekend in Sterlington, La. and will open the weekend on Friday at 2 p.m. eastern against No. 7 ranked Indiana University Southeast who opened their season getting swept by the No. 5 ranked Tennessee Wesleyan. The Grenadiers had a tough opening weekend as they posted a team average of .163 and a on base percentage of .229 with Marco Romero ending the weekend with a .300 average after recording three hits and two RBI's. Left handed pitcher Hunter Kloke went six innings in his start on opening weekend after recording 68.2 innings pitched in the 2021 season and a 3.01 ERA.
 
Following the IU Southeast game, the Fire will take on Benedictine College at 6 p.m. as the Ravens opened up their season with a 2-1 series victory over Mcpherson. In the 2021 season, the Ravens posted a 34-16 overall average and advanced to the NAIA Opening Round where they were eliminated by Oklahoma City with the 4-3 loss. In their opening weekend series, Benedictine posted an overall average of .259 with Danny Favazza recording a .571 average with four hits including a double and a triple through seven at bats. On the mound, freshman Nelson Klein went a team high five innings registering three strikeouts and allowing only two earned runs.
 
On Saturday, the Fire will open the day against No. 12 Loyola University at 11:30 a.m. eastern. Thus far in the 2022 season, the Wolf Pack hold a 5-1 record with two series wins against Texas A&M-Texarkana and Indiana University Kokomo. Through six games, the Wolf Pack have scored 35 runs behind a .446 on base percentage with Cameron Trosclair leading the team in batting average with a .455 with the lone two Wolf Pack homeruns. Senior Brendan Taravella went a team high 10 innings on the mound and recorded a .90 ERA with eight strikeouts. In the 2021 season, the Wolf Pack posted a 36-15 record and advanced to the NAIA Opening Round and was bested by Oklahoma City in twelve innings and finished their season with a 4-3 loss.
 
The Fire will round their weekend trip against Lawrence Tech at 2 p.m. at the Blue Devils will open up their 2022 season this week after posting an 11-14 record last season. Senior Luke Morrissette returns for the 2022 season after leading the Blue Devils in batting average last season with an average of .351. Senior RHP Jay Gallant also returns for his last season after recording the second most innings pitched last season with 28.1 and recorded 9.21 strikeouts through nine innings.