LAKELAND, Fla. — No. 8 Southeastern opened Sun Conference play Thursday with a split against Warner at Ted A. Broer Stadium, taking the opener 7–3 before dropping a tightly contested extra-inning nightcap 2–1.
Game 1: Southeastern 7, Warner 3
The Fire struck first in game one after two scoreless innings.
Paul Wittmann led off the third with a double and later scored on an RBI double by
Charlie Collins to give Southeastern a 1–0 lead. The Fire then broke the game open in the fourth inning.
Cade Parry launched a solo home run to start the rally before
Armani Cozza delivered a two-run double and
Dayne Wimberly added an RBI double, extending the advantage to 5–0.
On the mound,
Austin Peddycoart set the tone with a dominant outing, striking out seven while allowing just two hits across 4.2 scoreless innings.
Blake Albritton earned the win with three innings of relief, and
Micah Earwood recorded the save to close out the victory.
Warner pushed across runs in the seventh and eighth innings to trim the deficit, but Southeastern added insurance in the eighth when
Isaiah Baez drove in a run with an RBI single and Cozza delivered his second run-scoring double of the afternoon. Cozza finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs to lead the Fire offense, while Wittmann scored three runs as Southeastern totaled 10 hits in the win.
Game 2: Warner 2, Southeastern 1 (8 innings)
Game two of the doubleheader, scheduled for seven innings, turned into a pitching duel that extended into the eighth inning. Warner struck first in the opening frame with an RBI single from Gabriel Rodriguez to take an early 1–0 lead.
Southeastern answered in the sixth inning when Wimberly singled and eventually came around to score on a Warner error, tying the game at 1–1 and forcing extra innings.
In the eighth inning, Warner capitalized on a hit-by-pitch and an error to set up JD Swarbrick's RBI single that pushed the Royals ahead 2–1. Southeastern placed the tying run on base in the bottom half, but Warner reliever Austin Vakiener closed the door to secure the save and the split of the doubleheader.
Blake Sandvik delivered a strong performance on the mound for the Fire, striking out 10 batters while allowing just one run over seven innings. The right-hander limited Warner to six hits and kept Southeastern within striking distance throughout the afternoon.
Wimberly led the Fire offense in the nightcap with a 3-for-4 performance, while
Charlie Collins and
Nathanial Hopkins each added hits. Southeastern finished with six hits but was unable to deliver the timely hit needed to extend the contest further.
The series continues Friday at Ted A. Broer Stadium as Southeastern hosts Warner at 12 p.m. in the third game of the Sun Conference series.
