SEU Baseball Grits out Doubleheader to Sweep Webber International

No.1 Fire Take Down No. 18 Warriors in Thrilling Fashion
LAKELAND, Fla. – The No. 1 Southeastern University baseball team capped off an exhilarating Sun Conference-opening series versus the No. 18 Webber International University Warriors in emphatic fashion. The Fire walked-off against the Warriors 9-8 via a two-run home run off the bat of Manuel Mesa before clicking on all cylinders in a 14-5 win in the series finale. This marks the second consecutive season SEU has swept the regular season conference series against WIU.
GAME ONE
Southeastern and Webber International exchanged blows in the early innings. After the Warriors struck first in the top of the first to go up 1-0, the Fire answered in the bottom of the second with an RBI double by senior infielder Adam De La Cruz that drove home Colton Onstott and Noah Strohl, followed by an RBI groundout by Willie Estrada that allowed Dan Valerio to cross and put Southeastern ahead 3-1.
WIU then outscored SEU 8-1 in the fourth through sixth innings to take an 8-3 lead.
Junior right-handed pitcher Jayden Hartle was crucial to the Fire keeping the deficit to five runs, tossing 4.1 innings of no-hit baseball in relief.
Southeastern began to rally in the bottom of the eighth. After starting the season 2-20 at the plate with no runs batted in, senior outfielder Dan Valerio busted out of his early-season struggles in a mighty way, belting a three-run homer to trim the Webber International lead to 8-7.
Senior righty Heibert Romero came in to close out the top of the ninth with two outs, earning himself the soon-to-be win.
After a gem of a bunt single down the third base line by junior shortstop Carlos Viera to lead off the bottom of the ninth, senior outfielder hit his second home run in as many days versus the Warriors, this one a two-run shot over the left field fence to earn the Fire a 9-8 walk-off win.
GAME TWO
For the third-straight contest, SEU conceded the opening score to WIU. A two-run homer by the Warriors” left fielder Willie Carter, his third long ball of the series, put Webber International ahead 2-0.
Southeastern shifted the tone of the contest with a six-run fourth inning, which the Fire accomplished on five hits and two errors. RBI base-hits by Guadalupe, Dominic Anagnos, and Strohl highlighted the big inning that put SEU ahead 6-2.
The Warriors answered by plating a run in the top of the sixth, however, the Fire responded with a pair of runs thanks to a WIU error and an RBI single by Taylor Jr.
Webber International made things interesting in the top of the seventh, plating two runs to trim the Fire lead to 8-5.
Once again, Southeastern responded, this time with another six-run inning in the bottom of the eighth. SEU scored the six runs on four hits and an error.
Senior left-handed pitcher Austin Covers looked solid in his second outing of the season, surrendering three runs on four hits, but striking out seven in his first win of the season.
NOTABLES
The Fire and the Warriors combined for seven home runs on the weekend. Manuel Mesa and Willie Carter were responsible for five of those long balls.
Adam De La Cruz finished the weekend hitting .500 (5-10) with six runs batted in and two runs scored.
The Fire pitching staff overcame allowing an average of 1.13 walks per inning.
The Warriors left a total of 30 men on base throughout the series, for an average of 1.15 per frame.
DINKEL’S DUGOUT
“Any time you can sweep a series against a really good team like that you’ll take it. Now there are some things we want to learn, mistakes we made, and things we need to clean up dugout wise. But ultimately, good teams find a way to win and capitalize on mistakes and we did that,”-Adrian Dinkel, Southeastern Head Coach
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