#1 Southeastern University Fire added two more games to their season win total by sweeping Friday's doubleheader by the scores of 6-3 and a 15-7 comeback win in the second game. The Fire advanced their record to 41-5, 18-1 SUN, and the Bobcats dropped to 19-26, 9-10 SUN.
Game one was a fairly silent ordeal until the third inning. Both pitchers dueled, and both defenses played strong. Luis Rodriguez of the St. Thomas Bobcats opened the scoring in the third inning with a two RBI single through the left side putting the visiting Bobcats ahead 2-0.
The Fire wasted no time in surging ahead, a six-run third inning turned the tables in Southeastern's favor. A home run from
Tommy Davis unleashed a flood of Fire runs. For Davis it was his fourth home run of the year as he went 1-for-2.
A hit from
Cristopher Munoz and a perfectly executed bunt and run by
David Castillo as well as a base on balls taken by
Matt Delay loaded the bases for
Gary Lora. Lora crushed the first ball he saw in his at bat in the third inning, pushing the lead to 5-2 and garnering his fourth home run in as many games and his second grand slam in the same span.
Luis Gonzalez drove home the Fire's final run of the inning, which was also their final run of the game on an RBI single scoring
Isaac Nunez.
The defenses returned to their duel, as each team was blanked until the top of the seventh where the Bobcats added another run creating the final 6-3 score.
Darien Smith shined bright for the Fire, striking out nine in a complete game claiming his NAIA second ninth win, advancing to 9-0 on the season.
Castillo added another two hits and Munoz scored the other RBI.
It was the Bobcats that came firing out of the gate in the second round of the doubleheader, getting up 3-0 almost immediately on the Fire and pitcher
Cobe Reeves. Kendry Noriega and Lucas Lopez were to thank for the runs as Noriega contributed an RBI single and Lucas added a two RBI double.
The Fire responded quickly with a run scored by
Josh Smith on an
Isaac Nunez RBI single to right field. However, some nifty defense ended the inning for Southeastern with the bases loaded.
St. Thomas ruled the game for the next three innings, holding the Fire to two hits and adding three more runs, expanding their lead to 6-1 by the fourth inning.
To start the fifth,
Agnel Miranda replaced
Nick Gottilla on the mound and struck out one, caused a fly out and Castillo threw out a runner to end the top of the inning. That was when the Fire let loose and a torrent of hits unleashed.
Initially, Smith walked and a groundout from Castillo pushed him to third after a wild pitch moved Smith to second. Lora, who was already having a fantastic day drove him home on a single to right, Lora was driven home two batters later thanks to a Gonzalez hit down the left field line making the St. Thomas advantage 6-3.
A wild pitch scored
Alfonso Villalobos who had reached earlier on a walk.
Landrey Wilkerson walked next and Davis directly after singled through the left side to score Gonzalez bringing the Fire within one at 6-5.
The lead-off batter, Munoz, returned to the plate for the third time in the game and drove a ball to deep right-center plating both Wilkerson and Davis to give the Fire a 7-6 lead in the fifth, their first lead of the contest, and a lead that the Fire never gave back.
The Fire added eight more runs over the next three innings and the Bobcats were held to one run, forming the final score of 15-7. Southeastern's 10-0 run was highlighted by the fifth inning and a two run homer from Smith which was his third of the series so far.
Colby Martin finished off the Bobcats hopes of a comeback with a groundout and two strikeouts, throwing 11 pitches, several of which exceeded 95 miles per hour.
Miranda picked up his second win of the season, Lora went 4-4 with three runs scored and an RBI, Smith two RBIs on 2-for-3 hitting with four runs scored, five more batters had runs scored, and seven batters had an RBI in the late game offensive explosion.
The Fire take to Ted A. Broer Stadium one last time for the 2024 season, looking to sweep St. Thomas University for only the third time since 2010. Tomorrow's game will also be Senior Day for the Fire Baseball team, first pitch is at 12 p.m.
