Fire Baseball Heads to If Necessary Game in Opening Round

HATTIESBURG, Miss. — The hosts did it again Wednesday.
For the third time in the tournament, William Carey went into the ninth inning trailing, and got the runs it needed to continue or win the game.
A two-run ninth tied the game at four, then the Crusaders won 6-4 in 10 innings.
Just moments earlier, the Fire seized momentum with a two-run homer off the bat of Angel Garced to give SEU (50-10) a 4-2 advantage.
William Carey was able to bounce back with a leadoff single, followed by a double to make it a one-run game. The Fire were able to pick up an out at third, and a second at second on a ground ball, that was two steps away from a game-ending double play.
A passed ball brought the tying run in from third, and sent the game to extras where the Crusaders scored a pair of runs on two hits, a walk, and stole three bases.
The Fire got a leadoff walk from Marcus Guzman in the 10th, and got the tying run on with a walk to Jadan Garcia, but a double play ended the game.
Southeastern got on the board first in the bottom of the second when Mike D’Acunti was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. The Fire added one more in the sixth with an RBI single by Garced, scoring Guzman.
William Carey was able to tie the game with an RBI double in the seventh, and a wild pitch in the eighth.
Starting pitcher Nate Harmon held WCU to just one run on eight hits, striking out four and walking three on 116 pitches. The senior recorded eight fly outs in seven innings of work.
Offensively, Garced and Guzman had two hits each, with Garced driving in three.
The two teams will meet for the third time this tournament in the winner-take-all if necessary game Thursday at noon Eastern.