AVE MARIA, Fla. - In the final two games of the regular season, Southeastern softball (31-14, 19-5 SUN) completed another Sun Conference series win with a 6-1 game one win before falling victim to a 7-6 walk-off in game two.
Kenzie Forrester was locked in during her game one outing, posting a season-high nine strikeouts in her fifth complete game of the season. The sophomore allowed just one earned run on seven hits.
Erica Stahl and Leah Gonzalez combined for an early Fire lead after after back-to-back two-out doubles.
After hitting the base of the wall in the air in her first at bat, Stahl again put a good swing on the ball in the top of the third for a two-run home run and 3-1 Fire lead.
The Gyrenes mimicked the RBI double in the bottom of the third after a leadoff single came around to score.
In the top of the fourth, Karah Schultz led off the inning with a walk and was followed by a Chapel Cunningham single and stolen base to put two in scoring position. A fielding error on a squeeze bunt by Jamie Mead then allowed both runs to score for a 5-1 lead.
The Fire grabbed one more in the top of the fifth after another leadoff walk, this time to Gonzalez, came around to score on a sacrifice bunt and well-executed first and third play by the Fire base runners.
Stahl ended game one of the day 2-3 with two RBI's, two runs, and a walk.
In the series finale, the Fire had the Gyrenes down to their final strike two different times but back-to-back two-out errors by the conference-best defense opened the door for a Gyrene walk-off.
The Fire again scored first after four singles capped off by an RBI single by Cunningham in the top of the second.
The Gyrenes responded to tie the contest in the bottom of the second after a leadoff single and RBI double.
In the top of the third, back-to-back errors put two Fire runners on base for Gonzalez who singled to right field for the 2-1 Fire lead. A batter later, Lauren Sekinger scored on a wild pitch to push the lead to two.
A single, sacrifice bunt, and another single by the Gyrenes in the bottom of the third brought their deficit to 3-2.
Their next time to the plate, the contest was tied at three after a leadoff walk came around to score on a single to center field.
The Gyrenes took their first lead of the series in the bottom of the fifth off of three singles.
Stahl again came through in the clutch, tying the contest at four after an RBI double that scored Mead after reaching on a single and stealing second. Gonzalez followed with another RBI single to regain the lead.
Southeastern added one more in the top of the seventh after a hit-by-pitch by Schultz, single by Danielle Wasserstrom, and walk by Cunningham loaded the bases. Mead then drew an RBI walk for a 6-4 lead.
In the bottom of the seventh, two walks and a wild pitch put two on with two outs. An RBI single then brought the score to 6-5 with back-to-back two-strike errors completing the 7-6 walk-off.
Autumn Hunter fell to 12-6 on the season after replacing Sekinger in the bottom of the sixth.
The Fire will next enter the Sun Conference Tournament as the No. 2 seed on Thursday and will await the winner of St. Thomas and Thomas.
