FAYETTE, Mo.—Nine runs in the last four innings helped Southeastern run away from Kansas Wesleyan and capture the Fayette Bracket of the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round.
The Fire will head to Lewiston, Idaho for the Avista-NAIA World Series after an 11-3 win on Thursday to capture their fifth-straight opening round title.
"Sometimes guys forget how hard it is and how hard they worked to get to the World Series," said coach
Adrian Dinkel. "I'm excited for our guys to have this opportunity."
Kansas Wesleyan (44-15) got on the board in the first inning with an RBI double to center field, taking advantage of some early jitters from starting pitcher
Danny Batcher who yielded a hit batsman and a walk to the first two hitters he faced.
However, after the double, Batcher retired the next 13 batters he faced until giving up a two-out single in the bottom of the fifth.
"I've never really been in this situation before and went out a little antsy," said Batcher. "I settled down after the first inning and had my whole team behind me to help. It felt good having everyone cheer me on and have my back was a really good feeling."
Batcher improved to 9-0 after striking out seven and allowing one run on three hits, two walks, and a hit by pitch.
"He was intentional," said Dinkel of Batcher. "When he's intentional and goes after people and gets ahead, he's really good. I'm happy to see he went out and did it today."
The Fire scored in the top of the second with a bases-loaded single to left by
Jose Marcano to tie the game at one.
Isaac Nunez led off the third with his 17th homer of the season to give Southeastern the lead.
Marcano led the team with four hits in five at bats with a pair of runs scored. Nunez finished the game 3-for-4 and drew two walks.
Southeastern had opportunities to open up the lead in the third and fifth, but mistakes on the basepaths ended the threats.
Finally, in the sixth,
Stephen Cullen hit the first of his two homers on the day then
Josh Pigozzo hit a two-run homer, his 13
th of the season to make it 5-1. Another miscue on the bases ended the inning with two on and two out.
"It's awesome to go back to the World Series but this is just the first step, so hopefully we keep having fun and keep swinging it because we have a special group," said Cullen.
Pablo Lanzarote added an RBI fielder's choice in the seventh, and Cullen's 23
rd home run of the season was a no-doubt two-run shot to left center.
Cullen was 3-for-4 with three runs and three RBIs.
Nick Winkelmeyer's second home run of the season was a three-run shot over the left field wall
Reece Wissinger struck out seven of the 12 he faced in three innings of work, allowing two runs on back-to-back homers in the eighth.
Olvis Genao struck out both of the hitters he faced, needing just nine pitches to do so.
Southeastern will begin play at Harris Field in Lewiston on Saturday, May 27
th. Opponents and times will be released later Thursday.
