No. 3 Southeastern Cruises Past Cougars of Saint Xavier
LAKELAND, Fla. – On a night where junior left-handed pitcher Jonathan Bermudez turned in another gem on the mound, the No. 3 Southeastern University baseball team earned its first shutout of the season, as the Fire blanked the Saint Xavier University Cougars 8-0 to improve to 24-2 on the season.
Bermudez followed up his program record 18 strikeout performance with another dynamic pitching performance. The Polk State transfer tossed seven shutout innings, held the Cougars to .120 at the plate (3-25), walked one, and struck out 14. Bermudez has now fanned 32 batters in his last 15 innings pitched, an average of 2.13 strikeouts per inning.
The run support for the Fire southpaw started in the bottom of the second. Junior third baseman Keiner Colmenarez hit an infield single with runners on second and third that scored Ivan Nunez. A Saint Xavier error later in the frame allowed Dan Valerio to cross the plate and put SEU up 2-0.
Junior first baseman Nick Bottari singled home Manuel Mesa in the bottom of the third to put the Fire up 3-0.
The Fire capitalized on SXU pitching miscues to compile a five-run bottom of the seventh. The frame featured five different Saint Xavier arms on the mound. The Fire scored four of their five runs in the inning off of wild pitches.
The lone run of the inning that was not due to an errant throw was an RBI single through the left side by junior outfielder Marvin Malone that brought Vince Volpatti across the plate.
The Fire host the Cougars Friday afternoon for a doubleheader of seven inning games. Game times are set for 4:00 and 7:00 p.m.