LAKELAND, Fla.— Southeastern (38-13, 17-5 TSC) will face cross-county rival Warner (31-12, 14-6 TSC) with a chance to put pressure on Thomas University for the no. 1 seed heading into the conference tournament. If the Fire can sweep the Royals, and Thomas loses just one of its last four contests, SEU will take the Sun Conference regular season title.
GAMES 52-53:
Southeastern (38-13, 17-5 TSC) vs. Warner University (31-12, 14-6 TSC)
Date: Saturday April 28, 2018
Times: Game 1- 1:00 p.m., Game 2- 3:00 p.m.
Location: Lakeland, Fla.
Coverage: Updates- @SEUFireSoftball on Twitter, Live Stats and Video- seufire.com/watch
The Fire:
After sweeping USCB on Saturday, Southeastern has won 13 of its last 14 Sun Conference matchups. The Fire, who are looking to notch the 40-win mark for the fourth consecutive year, thrashed USCB behind hits from nine separate players.
Haleigh Harrell,
Lauren Watters and
Sam Holcomb were instrumental in the two victories, as they combined for 12 hits and ten of SEU's 16 runs. Harrell's pair of solo home runs gave Southeastern breathing room in a 7-2 game two. The freshman now leads the team in longballs (7), while holding the top spot in the conference with a .431 batting average and a program record 75 hits. Watters has registered multiple hits in her last three contests and Holcomb has batted .400 over the past four competitions.
In the circle,
Hannah Bodenhorn was a perfect 2-0 on the week, picking up a shutout victory against St. Thomas before registering a season-high 13 strikeouts versus USCB. The junior is holding opposing batters to .168 hitting on the year, which ranks ninth in the country. Bodenhorn has averaged three strikeouts per game more than any other pitcher in the Sun Conference, while also leading the field with 170 total Ks (second place has 126).
The Royals:
Warner comes into its matchup with the Fire after defeating Coastal Georgia in both contests this weekend. In the doubleheader, shortstop Chantal Crockett went 5-7, driving in half of the Royals' six runs and scoring another two. The senior is currently riding a five-game hit streak.
The Royals have notched a winning record in conference play for the second time in as many years and will finish at least six games above .500 in TSC in back-to-back campaigns for the first time since 2011. A major reason for Warner's success has been the production from catcher Sara Bruno, who leads the conference in home runs (10) and RBIs (46). Those statistics rank Bruno 21
st and 23
rd nationally in the categories.
Previous Meetings:
Southeastern holds the advantage in the all-time series with a record of 10-6. The Fire have outscored the Royals 87-73 in the 16 contests. Earlier this season, the Fire and the Royals split a doubleheader in Lake Wales with the Royals walking off in game one to win 3-2 and the Fire grabbing the second contest by a 7-6 score.
Senior Day:
The two Fire seniors will be honored before the first pitch of game two.
Brandee Pietrzak and
Brianna Perez, who both spent all four years catching at SEU, are scheduled to be recognized in the ceremony.
