LAKELAND, Fla.- The No. 21 Southeastern University Fire softball team swept both games of a doubleheader versus the Indiana Tech Warriors, shutting out the Warriors 6-0 in game one before walking off to a 6-5 victory in eight innings in the second contest. With the wins, the Fire have now won 10-straight and are two wins away from tying the longest win streak in program history.
GAME ONE: No. 21 Southeastern 6 Indiana Tech 0
The Fire held the Warriors to just two hits thanks to a dynamic one-two punch on the mound of starter sophomore
Autumn Hunter and redshirt senior
Payton Thomas. Hunter went five strong innings, allowing just two hits, walking two, and striking out four. Thomas closed out the contest with two hitless frames of relief, retiring six of the seven batters she faced with the only one reaching against her via error.
The Fire got on the board in the bottom of the third on an RBI-double to left field that scored
Katie Atkins. Harrell later came around in the inning and scored on a wild pitch to grow the SEU lead to 2-0.
Freshman
Riley Sanders tacked on an RBI-single in the bottom of the fifth that scored
Chapel Cunningham. Graduate infielder
Jamie Mead capped off the scoring for the Fire with a two-RBI double to right center to make it 6-0 Fire.
GAME TWO:
The Fire compiled an early 3-0 lead thanks to a three-run bottom of the second where freshman
Leah Gonzalez doubled home Harrell and
Katie Atkins, followed by an RBI-single to left center by
Madison Williams that brought Gonzalez across.
Atkins made it 4-0 in favor of SEU in the bottom of the third that brought
Erica Stahl home.
The Warriors then went on to score five unanswered runs, including three in the top of the sixth to even things up at 4-4 and one in the top of the seventh to take their first lead of the doubleheader at 5-4. An Indiana Tech error in the bottom of the seventh after a bunt-single by Mead allowed Sanders to score for Southeastern and tie things up in crunch time 6-6.
In the top of the eighth, freshman
Claire Sekinger had a pivotal 1-2-3 inning on the mound with two pop ups and a strikeout to keep the game tied.
In the bottom of the eighth, Harrell laid down a beautiful sacrifice bunt to advance the tiebreaker runner in
Ashley Ellison to third.
Leah Gonzalez then lifted one to center field that was deep enough to score Ellison for the walk-off sacrifice fly.
The Fire are back in action at home on Wedensday for a doubleheader versus the Cottey College Comets. Game times are scheduled for 1:00 and 3:00 p.m.
