Southeastern controlled the pace of both games of today's doubleheader versus Ave Maria, putting together a consistent effort to advance to 35-5, 14-1 SUN, moving the Gyrenes to 17-19, 4-11 SUN winning game one 8-2, and game two 6-2.
Despite a scoreless first inning for both teams, the #1 Fire took care of business. The Fire unleashed in the four innings following the scoreless first, going on an 8-0 run against the Gyrenes.
Darien Smith, now 9-0, went six innings and
Tyler Zylstra finished the Gyrenes off with one inning of work as the first game of the doubleheader was the designated seven inning game of the four game series. Smith racked up 10 more strikeouts coming to within four of the century mark on strikeouts for the season. Zylstra did his part by closing the final inning on nine pitches.
In the batters box, the Fire did the most damage in the bottom of the fifth, taking advantage of two errors made by the Gyrenes and a couple of fielder's choices to double their point total in the fifth.
Errors were what hurt the Gyrenes the most as the committed five, only five of the eight runs were earned.
Josh Smith led in hits for the Fire, going 3-for-4 with a run scored.
Chayce Bryant was one of four Fire batters to amass two hits on in the three o'clock matchup. He also knocked home two runs.
Tommy Davis was perfect at the plate, seeing Gyrenes pitchers four times and reaching base each time, twice on hits, and twice on walks, he also crossed home plate twice and drove a run in.
Matt Delay, and
David Castillo contributed the final two RBI's, Delay sacrificed himself to score Smith in the fifth, and Castillo singled to right center in the fourth to drive home
Tommy Davis.
It took till the sixth inning for the Gyrenes, but they got on the scoreboard with a two-run shot to right field from David Leonardi to drive home Francesco Barbieri for their only runs of the contest.
Tanner Kelly, who has reached base in every single game played this season, extended his immaculate reached base season to a perfect 35-for-35. He reached after being hit by a pitch in the third inning.
Game two was very similar to game one, both teams battled defensively in the first few innings, but in the third inning the Fire struck first on a
Cristopher Munoz double to right field, scoring
Landrey Wilkerson. Munoz connected on two of three hitting, both shots were doubles. Wilkerson walked once in three at bats.
This time around
Josh Pigozzo fueled the Fire batters, going 3-for-4 with a run scored, Davis also shined bright with 1-for-3 hitting, two runs scored and two RBIs.
Delay added another RBI to his yearly total on another sacrifice hit, and
Luis Gonzalez knocked home the final run for the Fire on a single to left field in the bottom of the fourth.
From the mound, the Sheriff,
Robb Adams, ran the operation effectively and efficiently, walking no batters and striking out seven. Highlighted by a four-pitch sixth inning. Adams picked his sixth win of the season and went seven innings only allowing four hits.
After Adams came three more pitchers,
Jaren Warwick, who blanked the eighth inning with one strikeout.
Colby Martin came to finish the deal in the ninth, but unfortunately had some struggles, walking two and earning the Gyrenes only two runs of the game,
Jake Cohen came to his rescue with two outs left and gathered them in ten pitches.
For the Gyrenes, just like the first game the runs came at the very end. They were able to get a hold of Martin's pitches and read them nicely, loading the bases and collecting two runs on sacrifice hits.
Kelly added to his historic numbers, collecting a lead off hit in the top of the third to extend his reached base streak to 36 games in a row, which is every game this season for the Gyrenes. This streak extends into last year, over the past two years the senior has reached base in 86 out of 89 games.
The Fire and the Gyrenes compete one more time, Southeastern looking for a sweep and Ave Maria hoping to salvage one contest. The game's first pitch is tomorrow afternoon at 12 p.m. at Ted A. Broer Stadium.
