LAKELAND, Fla.—The Fire baseball team collected another two victories thanks to run-rule wins over Aquinas College and Viterbo University Wednesday afternoon. Southeastern started the day with a 17-7 performance against the Saints before notching a 14-3 win versus the V-Hawks.
In the first contest, the Fire fell down 2-0 early to Aquinas, but responded with home runs by Colton Onstott and Dominic Anagnos. Onstott’s grand slam provided four of his six RBIs in the game, while Anagnos’ first longball of the year made it 5-2 SEU after four innings.
The Saints went up 7-5 in the fifth, but SEU answered once again. The Fire plated 12 unanswered runs over the next three innings to take the contest by ten.
Dan Valerio, Adam De La Cruz and Anagnos all registered RBIs in the bottom of the fifth to help SEU reclaim an 8-7 advantage. Ivan Nunez and Valerio then brought in two in the sixth to make it 10-7.
In the seventh, the Fire plated seven runs to put the game away. Willie Estrada and Nunez each registered RBIs, while Onstott and Anagnos both brought in two more runs as Southeastern took the competition 17-7.
Anagnos finished 3-4 with four RBIs in the game. Mesa also had a 3-4 performance at the plate. Onstott, who had 10 RBIs going into the day, added six to his resume after going 2-3.
In the second contest, SEU’s runs were provided by six longballs. Nunez and Mesa both went yard to put the Fire up 3-0 in the third. RBI hits by Onstott and De La Cruz then extended the lead to five after three innings. De La Cruz ended the game 3-4 with a trio of doubles.
After Anagnos singled in Alex Mangome to make it 6-0 SEU, Viterbo climbed back into the competition with three runs in the fifth.
The Fire responded with eight straight runs over four innings, including a pair of two-run home runs by Abdel Guadalupe. Guadalupe, who went 3-4 with four RBIs in the latter game, now leads the team with 33 RBIs.
Mesa, one of five SEU players with three hits, contributed in the fifth with one of his three RBIs.
Estrada homered over the left field fence in the seventh before Nunez ended the game with Southeastern’s sixth blast of the contest, a two-run shot in the bottom of the eighth to give the Fire an 11-run win.
Heibert Romero picked up a win with his 10-strikeout performance against Aquinas, while Kasey Gast came in to get his first save of the year.
Ryan Munoz struck out nine to earn his first victory of the season versus Viterbo and Bryce Oriold-Fraser fanned five in his two innings of work, as well.
With the victories, SEU sits at 23-3 on the season. The Fire will be back in action on Friday at Joker Marchant Stadium as they face St. Ambrose University at 2 p.m.
