LINCOLN, Neb.- Eight extra base hits, plus six Fire pitchers, helped Southeastern sweep through the Lincoln bracket, earning their way to an NAIA World Series bid in Lewiston, Idaho after defeating USAO for the second time this week, this time by a score of 11-2.
The Fire stayed true to their scoring ways, putting up two in the first inning, to the beat of a pair of RBI doubles from
Gary Lora and
Alfonso Villalobos. Southeastern then proceeded to score two runs an inning through the fifth, highlighted by home runs from
Josh Pigozzo,
Tommy Davis and
Josh Smith.
Davis sent home the last run of offense for the Fire in the top of the seventh, notching his second RBI of the game, one of three players with a multi-RBI day (Pigozzo, Villalobos).
Four different hitters had two or more hits in the championship game, Davis leading with a perfect 4-for-4 evening. Smith and Villalobos both had three hits a piece, and Lora had himself a two-hit day.
Robb Adams earned his eighth win, keeping things scoreless for the USAO Drovers until the fifth inning. Adams only gave up one earned run through five innings of work, and struck out seven in the process. Six other Fire pitchers combined for seven strikeouts, and helped finish off the win for Southeastern.
This will be SEU's sixth year in a row heading to the NAIA World Series, which is scheduled to begin on May 24th.
