MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — No. 10 Southeastern opened its four-game weekend series with a 9–3 victory over Florida Memorial on Thursday afternoon at Moore Baseball Field.
The Fire (20–7, 4–1 Sun) used timely hitting and a dominant start on the mound to control the game before pulling away with a decisive late-inning rally.
After two scoreless innings, Southeastern broke through in the third.
Nathanial Hopkins provided the early spark with a two-run home run to left, scoring
Paul Wittmann and giving the Fire a 2–0 lead.
Southeastern added to the advantage in the fifth inning when Hopkins delivered again, this time with a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 3–0.
The game turned decisively in the seventh inning. Leading 3–0, the Fire erupted for six runs on five hits, capitalizing on an error and aggressive baserunning.
Cort Pryor delivered a key two-run single, while
Charlie Collins added an RBI hit as Southeastern stretched the lead to 9–0.
Florida Memorial answered with three runs in the bottom half of the inning, but the damage had already been done.
On the mound,
Blake Sandvik set the tone throughout. The right-hander worked eight strong innings, allowing three runs on eight hits while striking out seven to improve to 5–0 on the season.
Hayden Givens-Craig closed out the final inning to secure the win.
Offensively, Southeastern tallied nine hits and drew five walks. Wittmann scored three times and reached base four times, while Hopkins finished with three RBIs to lead the lineup.
Southeastern will continue the series on Friday with a doubleheader beginning at noon.
