WINTER HAVEN, Fla. - In its first NAIA Tournament since the 2016 campaign, the USCB baseball team split on Monday, 7-4 and 10-5, with Fisher and Southeastern, respectively, at the Chain O' Lakes Complex.
INSIDE THE FISHER BOX SCORE
Leandy Castro - 1-for-4, three-run home run, two runs
Kyran Russ - 1-for-4, three-run home run, one run
Marino Sorbara - 1-for-2, double, two runs
Clint Sellers - 1-for-2, double, one run
Brian Meyer - 1-for-3, one run
Micah Krieghauser - six innings, win, six hits, three earned runs, one walks, five strikeouts
Donavan Huneck - two innings, one hit, no runs, no walks, two strikeouts
Eamonn Collins - one inning, save, one hit, no runs, no walks, two strikeouts
HOW IT HAPPENED
After a 1-2-3 first inning for Fisher, USCB jumped out to a quick lead in the bottom of the first, 1-0. Meyer started the frame with a leadoff single to right, and Castro exchanged places with his teammate on a fielder's choice. Sellers smacked a double to right center, which allowed Castro to touch home. Despite one out and a runner in scoring position, that's all USCB could muster.
After a quiet second frame, the Sand Shark offense added a trio of runs in the bottom of the third. The three runs came off Castro's bat, as he cranked his team-leading 12th home run of the 2021 campaign. With the blast, the Sand Sharks held a commanding 4-0 lead.
The Falcons cut the deficit in half with a two-run fourth inning. Jonathan Rosado and Jordan Gosselin poked RBI singles for FC to make the game 4-2.
The Sand Sharks regained those lost runs in the bottom of the fifth with two-out magic. Sorbara was hit by a pitch to start the inning, and he moved into scoring position on a stolen base. After two quick outs, Sellers walked to put runners at the corners. Brock Thibodeaux came in to pinch run for Sellers, and Russ made it a four-run game with a three-run bomb of his own. The long ball was his seventh of the 2021 season and made the contest, 7-2.
Fisher didn't cave though, as it made it a three-run contest in the top of the sixth. Mitchell Lundholm cracked a two-run homer to account for the runs in the inning.
After six strong innings from Krieghauser, Huneck came in to pitch the seventh and eighth innings, and he allowed just one hit in the two-inning span, while striking out two (both in the eighth inning).
To close out the 7-4 victory, Collins scattered just one hit en route to collecting his team-best sixth save of the year.
INSIDE THE SOUTHEASTERN BOX SCORE
Alexander Humphrey - 2-for-5, double, single, one RBI, one run
Nick Milhan - 2-for-4, two singles, one run
Meyer - 1-for-4, two RBIs, one run
Russ and Tavaris Terrell - one single and one RBI each
Javier Saenz - two innings, four hits, one run, no walks, two strikeouts
Griffin Cassell - one inning, two hits, one run, no walks
HOW IT HAPPENED
Southeastern opened the scoring in the bottom of the first with three runs off two hits. Colton Onstott earned a RBI off a ground out, while Pedro Castellano and Luis Cabrera connected with run-scoring hits.
USCB made it a one-run contest in the top of the second. Humphrey started the inning with a single, and Milhan reached base on a fielder's choice. Daniel Searles forced the bases loaded via a walk, and Terrell went station to station with his RBI single. After a pop out, Meyer grounded out, which plated Milhan to make the game 3-2.
The Fire rattled off six unanswered runs from the second to the sixth inning. With that stretch, they took the 9-2 lead.
The Sand Sharks had a chance to score runs in the top of the sixth, but two hits from Humphrey and Milhan wasn't enough in the scoreless frame.
USCB broke that four-inning scoreless stretch in the seventh with a lone run. Meyer connected with a RBI, seeing-eye single through the left side to make it a six-run game, 9-3.
The Fire regained that run an inning later when Castellano connected with another RBI hit.
In the top of the ninth, USCB made the contest interesting. Meyer, Castro and Sellers started the inning with three straight walks, and Russ cracked a run-scoring single to keep the bases loaded. Humphrey reached on a fielder's choice, as a run scored to make it 10-5. With runners at the corners, the final two outs were recorded in the five-run loss.
TEAM RECORD UPDATES
No. 4 USCB - 32-22 overall
No. 5 Fisher - 31-21 overall
No. 1 Southeastern - 48-7 overall
WHAT'S NEXT?
USCB will move to the elimination side of the Lakeland Bracket, and the Sand Sharks will play on Tuesday, May 18 at 6:30 p.m. USCB will play the winner of No. 3 Bryan and No. 5 Fisher during that slot. The Falcons and Lions will play at 11 a.m. on Tuesday morning.
