SEASON REVIEW 2008

The 2008 season for the Southeastern baseball team was once again historic, for the Fire won its fourth straight NCCAA II National Championship.

The Fire accomplished this feat despite losing nine seniors from last year's team.

SEU went 42-23 this year and repeated as South Region champion, going 15-3 in the South Region this season.

Since Head Coach Jason Beck came to Southeastern back in 2004, the Fire has won 185 games, averaging 46 wins a season.

Beck won his 300th career game this season and has a career record of 318-200 with four NCCAA II national titles to his credit.

Matt Braly was named the South Region Player of the Year while Jon Cunha was named the South Region's Pitcher of the Year.

The Fire had eight other players named All-Regional Team this season.

Pitchers Drew Schock, Grant Berman, Chad Masters, and Branden Patterson joined Cunha as first team selections while Dave Moskovits, Tyler Ruehlman, Kyle Petrick, and Josh Estridge joined Braly offensively on the first team ballot.

Petrick was named the 2008 freshman player of the year while Marcos Arias was a South Region honorable mention despite missing numerous games this year due to injuires.

In the 2008 national tournament, the Fire once again went undefeated in the tournament, pushing its unbeaten streak in the national tournament to 17 games.

The Fire won the national tournament in dramatic fashion over Hillsdale Free Will Baptist, trailing 3-0 in the bottom of the seventh inning when the Fire struck for four runs in the frame and won on a walk-off single by Hector Echemendia.

Braly was named the 2008 NCCAA II National Player of the Year while Berman won the 2008 NCCAA II Pitcher of the Year, going 9-1 on the season.

Braly leaves Southeastern as the school's all-time leader in doubles, runs scored, and RBIs, while also finishing in the all-time top-five for career batting average.

Joining Braly and Berman on the NCCAA II first team All-American list was Estridge, Petrick, Ruehlman, Moskovits, Cunha, and Masters.

Arias was named the 2008 NCCAA II national tournament's most valuable player as he went 6-for-13 with five runs and seven RBIs for the tournament.

SEU's record versus scholarship opponents also was impressive. The Fire put up a 23-20 record versus teams outside the NCCAA. Southeastern earned victories over NAIA schools Embry-Riddle, Warner Southern, Webber International, and Oakland City. SEU also defeated two NCAA II opponents: Eckerd College and Mercy College.

SEU played two NCAA D-I schools as well--three games versus Florida Gulf Coast and a single game with Cornell University, which the Fire dropped 11-8 despite leading after five innings.

Coach Beck has 28 players on his roster that could possibly return next season, which is a great platform for the Fire as it heads into the NAIA next season and into the Florida Sun Conference in 2010.