FORT MYERS, Fla. – The USCB baseball team's run at the Sun Conference Tournament ended one game short of the championship round, as the Sand Sharks split a pair of games Sunday at City of Palms Park.

USCB eliminated No. 5 seed Southeastern with a 7-4 win in the first game of the day before losing 15-3 to No. 4 seed Keiser in the nightcap. Keiser is the only remaining undefeated team in the tournament and will face No. 2 seed St. Thomas in the championship game Monday. 

Julio De Pena (6-3) turned in an outstanding effort against the league's top hitting team, holding Southeastern to four runs and seven hits over eight innings with 10 strikeouts. Blake Drew recorded the final three outs for his school-record 10th save.

Josh Reinhart led the Sand Sharks' offense against the Fire, going 4-for-4 with three RBIs, while Brandon Joyce added a pair of RBIs and Kal Davis was 1-for-1 with an RBI and scored three runs. 

The Sand Sharks grabbed an early lead against Keiser with two runs in the first inning, but it was all Seahawks from there. Keiser cut the lead in half in the bottom of the inning and plated eight in the second to take control. The Seahawks added single runs in the third and fourth and tacked on three in the fifth to break it open.

USCB had chances to chip away at the lead but left 13 runners on base. Dylan Yankle went 3-for-3 and drove in two runs, and Thomas Estopare was 3-for-5 for the Sand Sharks. 

Colin Tindall provided a bright spot out of the bullpen, limiting the red-hot Seahawks to one unearned run and one hit over three innings.

The Sand Sharks will host the NAIA National Championship Opening Round from May 17-20 at Historic Grayson Stadium in Savannah. The bracket for the five-team, double-elimination tournament will be released Friday.