Eagles and Fire Advance to Winner's Bracket Finale
FORT MYERS, Fla. - Top-seeded Embry-Riddle and second-seeded Southeastern both advanced to The Sun Conference Baseball Tournament winner's bracket finale with wins on Saturday, while St. Thomas and Webber International both stayed alive to complete the four-team semifinal round.
Game 1 - Webber International def. Warner, 11-5 (Warner eliminated)
The cross-county rivals from Polk County battled for the sixth time in 2014 with the Warriors claiming the final contest of the year, 11-5, eliminated the Royals from the tournament.
Colin Richardson made his second start of the year and allowed just one run to the Royals before a three hour rain delay suspended the game in the fifth inning. At the time of the delay, the Warriors led 3-1 thanks to a run in the third and two in the fourth after Warner began the scoring with on a Cody Nevils RBI groundout.
WIU scored two more runs in the 5th to expnad its lead to 5-1, but the Royals came back after the delay with some offense, scoring three runs on six hits in the sixth inning to cut the lead to 5-4, however, the Warriors answered with a run in the last of the sixth to hold a 6-4 lead.
After a single run by Warner in the seventh, the Warriors blew the game open with a five-run eighth, including a three-run home run by Austin AuBuchon.
Game 2 - Embry-Riddle def. Thomas, 7-1 (Thomas eliminiated)
The Eagles wasted no time to jump out to an early lead over the Night Hawks, going up 6-0 before Thomas ever reached the scoreboard. Darryl Knight took Kurtis Gens deep for a two-run homer in the first inning and the Eagles never looked back, coming away with a 7-1 win.
Gens lasted 4.2 innings before being replaced, allowing six runs (four earned) to the Blue and Gold while Daniel Poncedeleon pitched a gem for the Eagles, allowing one run on eight hits over eight innings of work.
John Gainey pitched a perfect three innings of relief for the Night Hawks, keeping the Eagles off the scorebaord with six strikeouts.
Game 3 - Southeastern def. St. Thomas, 13-7
In the longest game in Sun Conference Tournament history, the Fire outlasted the Bobcats 13-7 in a four-hour marathon that did not finish until 1:15 a.m. Southeastern scored 12 runs over the first three innings of play, pounding out 13 total hits and taking advantage of six Bobcat errors and nine walks issued by STU's pitching staff.
Southeastern roughed up Emilio Ogando for six runs on four hits and two crucial errors in the bottom of the first to take a big lead over STU. SEU sent 11 batters to the plate in the frame before Ogando could get out of the inning.
STU got on the board with a run in the second off of Nick Beavers, but SEU chased Ogando from the game in the second with two more runs on one hit and another St. Thomas defensive miscue.
Trailing 8-1, the Bobcats got right back in the game with a four-run third, including two runs coming off an Elim Perritte pinch hit single, cutting the Fire lead to 8-5.
Southeastern answered right back in its half of the third with four runs to go up 12-5. Corbin Weeks delivered a two-run single to left before Luis Diaz doubled and moved to third on a groundout, but when the first baseman from STU rolled the ball back to the mound thinking it was the third out, Diaz scored from third for the final tally in the inning.
The final six innings featured just three comibned runs while Clay Rideout, Dylan Jameson and Josh Egert combined for five innings of relief, allowing just five hits and one run against STU.