WINTER HAVEN, Fla.—The Southeastern softball team struggled offensively in a pair of losses to ranked opponents during the RussMatt Tournament at the Diamondplex in Winter Haven.
Southeastern lost a 2-0 contest to No. 5 Georgia Gwinnett, then lost a 4-3 game to 11
th-ranked Campbellsville to fall to 3-3 on the season.
In 14 innings, the Fire registered just five hits.
Against Georgia Gwinnett, senior pitcher
Hannah Bodenhorn scattered five hits over six innings of work with seven strikeouts and five fly outs, and allowed just one earned run.
"Hannah came out and had one of her best efforts in the circle," said coach
Rocky Stinson. "We had some struggles with a couple pitches, but she had one of her best outings."
The Fire had a baserunner in the second, third, fourth, and fifth innings, but were unable to manufacture a run. SEU's lone hit came with two outs in the fop of the fifth by
Natalie Hughes on a ball off the left field wall.
Both runs scored by the Grizzlies crossed the plate in the fourth, getting a lead off double followed by a walk. The Fire struggled defensively with an overthrow resulting in the first run of the game.
A solo home run by Campbellsville got the Tigers a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second, and stretched it to 2-0 in the fourth. A two-out, two-run single to center put the Fire in a 4-0 hole down to their final six outs.
The Fire scored in the sixth on an RBI groundout by
Kristen Schwartz to cut the deficit to three.
In the seventh
Kaylee Orr hit her second homer of the season, scoring
Haleigh Harrell to make it a one-run game with two outs, but a groundout to second ended the game.
"We've made some nice late game rallies, but if we put the pressure on early, we don't have to make that rally at the end," said Stinson. "If we put the pressure on with our pitching and play some defense, we can put teams away early."
Sam Holcomb,
Heather Faulk, and
Hannah Bonner added a hit each.
The Fire will conclude its six-game set at the RussMatt on Saturday at 11 a.m. with a doubleheader against Olivet Nazarene.