Elimination Game Between Fire and Wildcats Set

LEWISTON, Idaho- The top team in the NAIA, Southeastern University, will play with their backs against the wall tonight as they look to fight off elimination from the NAIA World Series with a win over Indiana Wesleyan at 6:05 p.m. Eastern.
 
The Fire (56-5) found themselves in the loser's bracket with a 13-4 loss last night to fourth-seeded William Carey after being outhit 13-8.
 
Southeastern struck first in the top of the first after Josh Pigozzo scored on a wild pitch but a two-run home run by the Crusaders in the bottom of the inning gave them the lead.
 
In the third, the Crusaders added two more after an RBI single and fielders' choice while back-to-back RBI doubles in the bottom of the fourth put the Fire behind 7-1.
 
The Fire added one in the sixth off an RBI single by Stephen Cullen but a home run and two-run error in the seventh moved the deficit to 10-2.
 
The Crusaders added three more in the eighth before a Nunez home run in the ninth contributed to the Fire's 13-4 loss.
 
Adonys Herrera has led the offense thus far in the tournament with a .500 average (3-6) and .667 on-base percentage. Isaac Nunez has gone 3-8 in the tournament with two runs scored, a double, and a home run, two RBI's and an .875 slugging percentage.
 
The Fire pitching staff has allowed 13 earned runs in 17 innings (6.88 ERA) off 18 hits and seven walks. Reece Wissinger picked up the lone win for the Fire in the tournament thus far after striking out five in two innings of relief in game one against Lewis-Clark.
 
The eighth-seeded Wildcats of Indiana Wesleyan (40-19-1) are coming off an 11-10 upset over third-seeded Georgia Gwinnett thanks to three Grizzlies errors. The Wildcats also upset fifth-seeded Bellevue in 11 innings on Saturday to avoid elimination after dropping game one of the World Series to Lewis-Clark State College by a score of 12-4.
 
Collectively, the Wildcat offense has posted a batting average of .284 for 8.1 runs per contest. Lucas Goodin leads the Wildcat offense with a .375 average with 84 hits including 19 home runs and 13 doubles.
 
The pitching staff holds a 5.36 ERA on the back of Drue Young who has tossed a staff-high 94.1 innings, posting a 4.20 ERA. Brock Buckley holds a 4.48 ERA through 74.1 innings and has held opponents to a .258 average.
 
The Fire hold a historical 6-2 record over the Wildcats, taking the last five matchups including four-games in two days in Lakeland back in February of 2021.
 
With a win, the Fire will advance to the semifinals tomorrow.