LAKELAND, FLA. - CIU Baseball closed out their opening weekend series against the No. 3 Southeastern University Fires Saturday. The Rams had a much-improved outing defensively, but after showing sparks of offensive production in the first two meetings of the series, the Rams struggled to piece together runs. The Rams totaled only four hits against the Fire, and as a result, the Rams fell to the Fire 5-0 and were swept by Southeastern.
Game Three: CIU 0 SEU 5
How it happened: Through the first two innings, the Rams were able to battle to keep the game scoreless. Rodrigo Rodriquez would get the Rams' first hit of the game in the top of the third inning but CIU was unable to capitalize with a runner on base. Unfortunately, in the next half-inning, Southeastern would catch fire, scoring three runs on four hits. After that, CIU would only give up two more runs which came in the 6th and 7th innings to stretch their lead to 5-0. The Rams bats did not show up in their final game, as CIU dropped their last outing in Lakeland 5-0.
Game Notes:
- Tyler Parker started his first game of the season, pitching five innings with two strikeouts and only giving up three runs.
- Brett Collins pitched three innings in relief, only giving up four hits and two runs.
- Grant Bodison capped off an impressive series with his third hit of the weekend.
What Coach Jonathan Johnson is saying:
"We wanted to find out where we were as a team, and we did. We have a lot of improvements to make to be considered among the best in the NAIA. We will have another crack at it next week when we face another great top ten team."
Up Next:
CIU will take on No. 8 Keiser University in West Palm Beach, Florida, for a four-game weekend series starting Friday, Feb. 4, at 11 AM.
