Baseball Hosts Five Home Games this Week

LAKELAND, Fla.- The No. 3 nationally ranked Southeastern University baseball team will head into a busy week that includes three different series beginning with a doubleheader against Cornerstone University on Tuesday at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. A mid-week, single-game contest on Wednesday against Roosevelt University will take place at 6:30 p.m. as the week will be rounded out by a Sunday doubleheader against the receiving votes Indiana Tech at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
 
Cornerstone University recently kicked off their season on Saturday with an 0-2 start after dropping the series to Mount Vernon Nazarene by scores of 3-0 and 7-0. The Golden Eagles will have a challenging week ahead as they take on four different Top 25 ranked programs including the No. 3 ranked Fire on Tuesday. The 2021 season concluded with a 19-17 overall record and a trip to the WHAC Tournament where they went 1-2 to end the season.
 
The Golden Eagles return their top two offensive players in Austin Hurt and Jordan Wenzel as Hurt finished the 2021 season leading in batting average (.411), slugging percentage (.736), RBI's (41), doubles (13), and home runs (7). Wenzel tailed Hurt in nearly every category but led the Golden Eagles in hits with 56, runs scored with 35, and triples with five while also swiping 21 stolen bases. The Golden Eagles will have the task of replacing their top two arms from the 2022 season in Zach Brog and Chandler McKinney as Brog led the pitching staff in ERA with a 2.57 and McKinney collecting the most innings pitched at 44.2.
 
The Fire will then take on Roosevelt University on Wednesday in a single game at 6:30 p.m. at home. The Lakers opened their season with a 1-4 record and will take on Webber International this week before facing off against the Fire on Wednesday. The previous Lakers season ended with a winning record of 28-21 as they advanced to the CCAC Tournament, going 4-2. Senior Trevor Heinlein leads the Lakers through the first five games of the season with a .375 average and .625 slugging percentage.
 
The week will be concluded with a Sunday doubleheader against the receiving votes Indiana Tech. After a 35-27 season last year, the Warriors have begun the new season with a 5-4 record including three losses to Top 20 ranked programs in the No. 5 ranked Tennessee Wesleyan, No. 19 Middle Georgia State, and No. 15 Indiana Wesleyan. Last season saw the Warriors advance to the NAIA Opening Round where they went 4-2 including a win over the No.7 Oklahoma Wesleyan by a score of 13-11.
 
The Warriors will have the challenge of replacing a majority of their offense with the loss of Yeshua Saint who led the team in BA with a .405 and was tied in hits with 68 as well as Spencer McGhee who also collected 68 hits, a .366 BA, 55 RBI'S, and 12 home runs. They will also have to replace a majority of their innings pitched from last season in Charles Dunavan who recorded 80 innings pitched.
 
The Fire and the Warriors last met in the 2019 NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho where the Fire took the 6-5 victory over the Warriors to advance their overall record to 2-0 over Indiana Tech.
 
The 18-0 Fire have continued to live up to their reputation as one of the most dominating programs in the NAIA as they rank No. 1 in the nation in home runs with 36 and slugging percentage with a 6.53 and second nationally in total bases (378) and shutouts (4) while coming in ranked in the top five in multiple other categories.
 
Key additions to the Fire roster in Gary Lora and Robb Adams have propelled the Fire to their hot start with Lora posting a .500 average, 26 RBI'S, and nine home runs for a total slugging percentage of 1.017 and puts him at number one in the NAIA in home runs. Junior College transfer Robb Adams has been sensational on the mound for the Fire thus far as he has collected a 4-0 record, two complete games, and an average of 12.5 strikeouts per nine innings and a miniscule ERA of .32 through 28 innings pitched. Collectively, the Fire average nearly 11 runs per contest with a .378 batting average, .473 on base percentage, and .653 slugging percentage.
 
To purchase tickets to any of the Fire's five home contests this week, go to https://southeastern.universitytickets.com/w/default.aspx?cid=177.