Lakeland, Florida- For the 2nd time this year we make our way to Ted A. Broer stadium, this time for a top 10 showdown. The Sun Conference season kicks off with two world series programs meeting in a conference matchup, for #6 Webber International (WIU) it kicks off a 3 week period where they face the best of the conference. And for #1 Southeastern (SEU), it’ll be their 9th, 10th, and 11th games against Top 25 competition this season.
Who’s Playing
#1 Southeastern (27-1) will host #6 Webber International (24-4) who will make the 35 mile trip north to Lakeland, FL. Entering this weekend SEU is 7-1 versus teams in the current Top 25, and WIU has 3 wins this season versus the current Top 25. Both of these teams are playing a high level of baseball this season, and are looking to make return trips to the pacific northwest.
History
Southeastern leads the all-time series 35-26, and has a current winning streak of 4 straight wins. The first game between these two teams took place on April 2nd, 2002, which was a 6-2 Webber win. Southeastern put up 20 in the last meeting between the two on April 25th of last year. The Fire are 15-15 all-time when playing WIU in Lakeland, and while they’ve been in the same conference SEU is 16-5 all-time.
Schedule
All times local-
Game 1- Friday 3p
Game 2- Friday 6p
Game 3- Saturday 12p
How to watch
All games linked here to the ‘Fire Network’
The Teams
#1 Southeastern is 27-1 this season with their lone loss coming late last week against another Top 25 program in Bellevue (NE). The Fire are hitting .365 as a team, and are clearly very comfortable at home playing their 24th & 25th home games of the year on Friday. The offense is elite, 8 players have hit more than 5 home runs this year, with Stephen Cullen leading the team with 10. 7 of those hitters have over 20 runs batted in this year, Gary Lora leads the team with 32. Pitching wise the whole staff has an earned run average of 2.51, and has struck out 331 opposing hitters. The rotation is solid between Robb Adams, Danny Bratcher, and Darien Smith. In total 16 pitchers have thrown for the Fire this year, and 6 different pitchers have started more than 1 game. There’s the right mixture of experience and talented newcomers that keep the juggernaut moving forward.
#6 Webber International enters the weekend 24-4 overall, having won 4 straight games. For the Warriors of Webber there is also an established rotation that has had a great year. Xavier Rodriguez, Dylan Martin, and Blayne Hunter have all helped lead the weekend Warriors staff to a great 2.56 earned run average. Offensively WIU is hitting .283 which ranked 101st nationally, but still hold dangerous weapons on the offense. Angel Diaz leads the team in hits, average, triples, and runs batted in. While Bryan Morales leads the team in doubles with 12, and is hitting for a .355 average. WIU went 2-2 at the world series last season and is looking to find a way back to Idaho.
Final Thoughts
Both of these teams are off to fantastic years in 2023, and for one of these programs it’ll just be another notch in the belt with a series win. Southeastern has been the clear cut number 1 team nationally, they have left little doubt about that. In his 6th year as the leader of Southeastern Adrian Dinkle has made SEU a true powerhouse. Down the road to the South in Babson Park, Florida Collin Martin is in his 4th at the helm of his alma mater, trying to create another Sun Conference monster for years to come. Two great coaches with great staffs, and great players will face off this weekend. Enjoy the games, they don’t get much better than this.
- Robby Gutierrez