LAKELAND, Fla. – In the final week of regular season action, the Southeastern University softball team prepares for four more games against Sun Conference opponents. The Fire will host a doubleheader against St. Thomas on Wednesday and travel to Hardeeville, South Carolina on Saturday for two games against USCB.
SEU enters a pivotal week, needing to go 4-0 or 3-1 to put themselves in a position to qualify for the Sun Conference tournament.
Last week, the Fire went 1-3 with two losses to Florida National and a split with No. 20 Warner on Senior Day. SEU managed just 12 hits in 14 innings against the Conquistadors before breaking out offensively with nine runs against the Royals on Saturday, the most runs they've scored in a doubleheader since their matchup with Keiser on March 31
st where they tallied 11 runs in two games.
Freshman pitcher
Autumn Hunter put together another solid outing to earn her 14
th win of the season in the Fire's 3-1 victory in game one against the Royals. She completed all seven innings and allowed just two hits while striking out five.
Kaley Sarasty led the way offensively in the winning effort, going 2-for-3 with two runs scored.
Southeastern's comeback attempt came up just short in game two. Trailing 7-4 entering the bottom of the seventh, the Fire scored two runs and had the game-tying runner on second base before Warner was able to record the final out.
Senior
Britt Robinson hit her first career home run on Senior Day, a solo shot that gave her team the lead in the fifth inning. Senior outfielder
Lauren Watters added two RBIs in the fifth inning on a single to right-field that scored
Sam Holcomb and
Madison Williams.
Sam Holcomb reached base three times, going 1-for-2 with two walks and the one run scored.
With four games to play in the regular season, the SEU defense continues to be relied upon ranking top six in several categories. They are fifth in total putouts (952), and sixth in both total assists (396) and total chances (1392).
SEU hosts a St. Thomas squad that has dropped five of their last seven contests. With a conference record of 7-13, they are also on the outside looking in of the conference tournament picture. Key players for the Bobcats include Eliza Artiles and Daniela Bautista. Artiles leads STU with a .387 batting average and 15 steals while Bautista has hit the only two St. Thomas home runs this season and leads the team with 21 RBIs.
Southeastern holds the edge in the all-time series with an 17-3 record, splitting their previous doubleheader this season. In their 9-3 win, the Fire jumped out to a 9-0 lead before the bottom of the third inning. Five different Fire batters recorded an RBI in the win, with
Erica Stahl and Watters recording two RBIs.
The Fire wrap-up their regular season slate with a visit to USCB, who is currently tied for second in the Sun Conference with a record of 12-8 in conference play. Winners of seven of their last ten, the Sand Sharks are led by Shania Dominique and Ally Muraskin. Dominique leads her team with a batting average of .309 in 55 at-bats while Muraskin leads all TSC pitchers with an ERA of 0.71 and 137 strikeouts.
Southeastern leads USCB in the all-time series 14-10, and split with them as well in the previous matchup this season. Robinson and
Ramsey Sullivan each recorded an RBI in the 2-0 win.
Be sure to follow @SEUFireSoftball to keep up with all the action this week!
