LAKELAND, Fla.—After beating the Night Hawks in the first game of the weekend series on Friday afternoon, the Fire clinched a series win by grabbing game two in the first game of their Saturday doubleheader by a score of 8-5.
Thomas grabbed an early 1-0 advantage in the top of the first by stringing together a couple of hits; however, the deficit was quickly erased in the bottom of the second when a fielder's choice scored senior
Sammy Jacobson.
The Fire then exploded to score a total of seven unanswered runs in the fourth and fifth innings. A
Brandee Pietrzak solo shot started the feeding frenzy. The blast was followed by a 2-RBI double by
Hannah Smith to cap off the three run fourth inning for the Fire. After
Cheyenne Blaha sent a ball off the top of the right field wall in the next inning, Pietrzak launched another ball out of the park. This time it was a 3-run home run that landed nearly 30 feet beyond the left field fence, giving Pietrzak's three home runs in her last two games. On the very next pitch,
Cat Maldonado ripped her third home run of the season over the center field wall to extend the Fire lead to seven runs. Both Pietrzak and Maldonado ended the contest with three hits and two runs scored, while Pietrzak tallied four RBIs.
Though the Fire gave up four runs in the top of the seventh inning, Southeastern was able to survive the slight scare. Senior
Lindsie Scholwinski came in to earn her first save of the year after retiring the final Night Hawk batter with the bases loaded.
The Fire's bats were silenced in the second game of the doubleheader, which allowed Thomas to jump out to a 6-0 advantage in the third inning. Alex Millett, who finished the game 3-for-3 and registered half of Southeastern's hits on the day, doubled deep down the right field line to give the Fire hope in the bottom of the fourth inning by driving in Pietrzak and
Sydnie Malloy.
Southeastern did manage to push one more run across the plate in the bottom of the seventh, but it was too little, too late for the Fire in the second game of the doubleheader. With the tying run at the plate, the Fire stranded two of their seven runners that were left on base in the competition and Thomas took the final game of the series 6-3.
The 11
th ranked Fire will be back in action on the road in a conference doubleheader with Ave Maria on Wednesday. First pitch is scheduled for 1pm.
