LAKELAND, Fla.- The Sun Conference Regular Season Champions, Southeastern University, will begin the SUN tournament this weekend as they look to add a tournament title to their 2022 season accolades.
The Fire concluded the regular season with a 43-8 overall record and 23-4 conference record while also going into their last series of the regular season with a 17-game winning streak.
The Fire will enter the tournament as the top seed and will play their first game on Thursday at 4 p.m. against the winner of Ave Maria University and Thomas University.
During the regular season, the Fire swept the Gyrenes by scores of 6-1, 5-0, and 14-4 at home and went 2-1 against the Night Hawks after dropping game one by a score of 5-0 and taking the double header by scores of 8-0 and 3-0.
The No. 18 ranked team in the nation sits in the top 10 in many offensive categories including runs scored (356), hits (493), RBI'S (306), stolen bases (203), and batting average (.358) while the pitching staff also ranks top 10 in shutouts (17) and batting average against (.196).
Individually, graduate
Jamie Mead and
Riley Sanders have been the top offensive performers for the entirety of the season as Mead has posted a team leading .432 average and .533 on base percentage. As a freshman, Sanders lead the NAIA in stolen bases at 62 and also ranks seventh nationally in runs scored at 61 while holding a .414 average and .459 on base percentage.
Senior
Katie Atkins has been the lead run producer for the Fire with 52 RBI's behind a .379 average and .607 slugging percentage.
On the other side,
Claire Sekinger has established herself as one of the top arms in the Sun Conference after concluding the regular season with a 1.42 ERA after allowing just 26 earned runs through 128.1 innings pitched and sitting down 120 batters on strikes. The freshman has tossed seven shutouts on the season which ranks 10
th nationally while her 19 wins on the season ranks 17
th in the NAIA.
Sophomore
Autumn Hunter has also been effective on the mound for the Fire, posting a 1.93 ERA through 101.1 innings through seven complete games.
