LAKELAND, Fla. – Indiana Wesleyan baseball opened the 2021 season at No. 1 Southeastern Thursday afternoon with a pair of doubleheaders. The Wildcats fell to Southeastern by scores of 7-6 and 5-0.


GAME VITALS

• LOCATION: Lakeland, Fla. 
• TEAM RECORDS: IWU 0-2  |  SEU 5-0
• NAIA TOP-25: IWU, Unranked  |  SEU, No. 1
• GAME 1: SEU defeated IWU 7-6.
• GAME 2: SEU defeated IWU 5-0.

INSIDE THE BOX – Game 1

• IWU fell behind 2-0 to No. 1 Southeastern after giving up a run in the fourth and fifth innings.
• Denver Blinn knotted things up with a two-run blast in the sixth, driving in Tye Thixton. 
• SEU regained the lead with a four-run sixth inning.
• In the eighth, Nick Coy doubled, MJ Stavola came in and went to third on a single by Luke Roman. A Denver Blinn walk loaded the bags before Tanner Killian tied the game with a grand slam. It marked his 15^th career round-tripper.
• Colby Jenkins and Tanner Killian had two hits apiece. Killian had four RBI while Denver Blinn added two. It was Killian's second career four-RBI game.
• Jon Young got the opening-day start on the mound and worked 5.1 innings. He accounted for two strikeouts.
• Southeastern ended the game with a solo homer in the bottom of the ninth. 

INSIDE THE BOX – Game 2

• SEU scored two runs in the first, two in the second and one in the third for a 5-0 win in the nightcap.
• The Wildcats rattled off three hits in the game, including two from Chris Lopez and a single from Luke Roman. 
• IWU recorded four walks, coming from Denver Blinn, Bryce Ginder, Lucas Goodin and Tanner Killian
• Bradeon Norman and Isaiah Rivera combined for three strikeouts.

 

BENJAMIN PERSPECTIVE

• We pitched at a really high level most of the day. Some first time outside variables, such as timing, that will get cleaned up the more we play. Overall we played hard and laid a foundation to build on tomorrow.

NEXT TIME OUT

• The Wildcats retake the field again tomorrow, Feb. 5, at 11 a.m. IWU will play a doubleheader against top-ranked Southeastern.

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• In addition, Baseball has established its own Twitter page where it updates fans during the game.