Statement Made! #11Eagles Take the Series with #1 Ranked Southeastern...

photo credit: CJ Carithers

Waleska, GA - The Reinhardt Eagles found themselves in a unique situation on Saturday afternoon at Ken White Baseball Field.  Southeastern University Fire had not lost a regular season series since April of 2022. They have dominated the NAIA the past several years and brought a solid 28-2 overall record into Waleska for the series.  The Eagles were able to add two to the Fire's loss column and take the series which will obviously send a message through the NAIA Baseball wire.  The Eagles won in game three 12 to 5 on the arms of starter Alex Galvez and superstart utility pitcher Brett Allen.

Galvez got the start in the important game three with the series deciding outcome in his hands.  Galvez had a good day on the mound facing the powerful batters of the visiting Fire. He pitched four and two-thirds innings striking out 5 and scattering 6 hits in his innings.  He only allowed 2 runs in the game to help keep the Eagles in control of the game until Brett Allen was able to take over.  Allen has had an incredible season so far for the Eagles coming in for various roles and always answer the call. He has been the closer in some games, middle relief, starter, single innings, or multiple innings and he always performs to whatever Coach Burton ask of him.

In today's game, Allen took over for Galvez and got them out of a hole. He only had one strikeout, but he was able to get the ball in the park and make Fire batters pop up for easy plays.  He was backed up by a solid defense which wsa highlighted by All-Conference third baseman, Jarrett Burney.  Burney had several hard shots at the hotcorner and always made the play.  He was partnered by Luis Mendoza at short stop who was also solid making the plays in the holes to make the difficult plays look routine.  The Fire did not have the answers of getting the ball through the left side of the infield with Burney and Mendoza there.

Reinhardt (GA)Pitchers

Offensively, the Eagles scored in five of their eight innings batting.  The fifth inning was their big inning scoring four runs and opening the game up for what would be a blowout win. The runs in the fifth came from some pitching issues by the Fire with a few walks and hit batters that allowed the bases to load up for the Eagles and cross home plate.  

Dylan Lewis had a nice bomb in the fourth which gives him the team lead with 10 total.  Tucker Zdunich and Nash Crowell hard just slightly behind with 9 homers each. Lewis was 1 for 3 with 2 RBIs and one run scored. Lance Dockery had 2 RBIs which came on a sacrifice bunt in the eighth inning that scored Parker Doyle and Marcerio Allen.

Tucker Zdunich, Adrian Vargas, Matty Maurer, Marcerie Allen, and Luis Mendoza all had RBIs in the game.

The rest of the runs for the Eagles came from manufactured runs - stealing bases, sacrifice bunts moving runners around the bases, a few wild pitches, and some singles.  Those little moments in the game that are not the big-booming highlights like a three-run homer cal also win you games when you stay consistent and keep the opponent offguard.  Reinhardt took advantage of the Fire's mistakes and created 12 runs which was plenty enough to take the series and make statement to the rest of the country on what this team is about.

The Eagles will enjoy this huge series win through the weekend, but they will have to be back to business on Tuesday on the road at Middle Georgia.  After that, they will be back at Ken White for an AAC series with Johnson University Friday and Saturday.  The majority of the remaining games for the Eagles are conference games which the Eagles currently lead.  They need to stay healthy and playing at their currently level to keep teams like Pikeville, Milligan, and Tennessee Wesleyan which are just behind the Eagles in the conference standings.