No. 4 Southeastern Gets Back in the Win Column with Big Day at the Plate
LAKELAND, Fla. – Coming off a weekend where the Fire struggled at the plate, the bats of the No. 3 Southeastern University baseball team erupted to take down the Spring Arbor University Cougars 13-6 to get back on the winning side of things.
SEU hit a combined .371 at the plate with seven extra base hits.
“It was good to see our guys take offensive swings instead of the defensive swings we had last week,” shared head coach Adrian Dinkel.
The Cougars got on the board first in the top of the first on a balk with a man on third to take a 1-0 lead.
The Fire responded boldly in the bottom of the second with an eight run inning on four hits and an error.
The Fire started the big inning with an RBI double by junior utility man Adam De La Cruz that scored Vince Volpatti. To tie things up 1-1. The Fire picked up the go-ahead run when an error allowed De La Cruz to cross the plate.
An RBI double later in the inning by junior first baseman Nick Bottari brought home Marvin Malone and Dominic Anagnos to put SEU up 6-1. Junior utility man Dan Valerio doubled home Ivan Nunez to tack on another run. Valerio’s RBI pushed his season total to team leading 31, which ranks just one shy of the most in the NAIA.
Senior utility player Kainalu Pitoy capped off the big inning by advancing Valerio across the plate on the sac fly to put Southeastern ahead 8-1.
The Fire went yard in three straight innings from the third through the fifth frames. In the bottom of the third, Anagnos blasted a solo home run over the center field fence. In the following inning, Pitoy rocketed one to right center. The home runs were the second of the season for each man.
Bottari concluded the power streak for Southeastern in the bottom of the fifth with a two-run homer that rapidly cleared the top of the left field wall and put the Fire up 12-5 over the Cougars.
An RBI single by Nunez in the bottom of the seventh scored Anagnos and put the Fire up 13-6.
Anagnos turned in a dominant performance at the plate and on the base paths. The Round Rock, Texas native was a perfect 3 for 3 at the plate with and RBI and two walks. Anagnos also scored four Fire runs and stole three bases.
Junior lefty Felix Dieguez fanned 11 Spring Arbor batters in the 4.2 IP no-decision for SEU. Senior right-handed pitcher Dylan Drawdy earned the win in relief to improve to 3-0 on the season.
The Fire are back in action Wednesday night, as they host the University of Saint Francis Fighting Saints. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
