LAKELAND, Fla.- After concluding the regular season with a 31-14 overall record and 19-5 Sun Conference record, Southeastern softball will head into the Sun Conference Tournament this week as the No. 2 seed.
The Fire's first contest in the tournament will take place on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. against the winner of the third-seeded St. Thomas and sixth-seeded Thomas.
Southeastern dropped just one SUN series all season and currently sits as the second-best offensive team in the conference with a collective .305 batting average and the top defensive team in the conference with a .971 fielding percentage.
Individually,
Leah Gonzalez ranks within the top five in multiple categories including batting average (.387) which ranks fifth and RBI's (33) which ranks third.
Erica Stahl also sits near the top of a few offensive categories, ranking fourth in slugging percentage (.550) and third in doubles (12). Stahl also sits in a tie for fourth in the RBI category with 29.
Chapel Cunningham leads the SUN in both at bats (147) and stolen bases (32) while
Jamie Mead ranks second in runs scored (37).
On the mound,
Autumn Hunter ranks fifth in both ERA and opponent batting average with a 1.97 ERA and .218 opponent batting average.
Claire Sekinger ranks as one of the top two strikeout pitchers in the conference with 147 in 142 innings.
The pitching staff of St. Thomas has been the largest contributor to their 14-10 SUN record and 33-16 overall record, posting a conference-best 1.72 ERA largely backed by a 0.88 ERA from Abigail Smith which leads the conference. Smith has held opponents to a .198 average in 104 innings.
The Bobcat offense ranks near the bottom of the SUN with a collective average of .271.
The Fire and the Bobcats met earlier in the season in Miami Gardens with the Fire taking two of the three contests.
Thomas comes into the tournament after grabbing the last spot with an 11-13 SUN record and 23-20 overall record.
The Night Hawks hold a collective .285 batting average and 3.32 ERA.
Averie Sheppard currently ranks fourth in the conference in batting average (.431), second in slugging percentage (.569), second in hits (62), first in triples (7), and third in runs scored (36).
The Fire hosted the Night Hawks earlier in the season, sweeping the series.
With a win on Thursday, the Fire will then compete on Friday at 2 p.m. with the championship taking place on Saturday at 12 p.m.
The Mariners of Coastal Georgia secured the SUN Regular Season Title last week after posting a 21-3 conference record and will enter the tournament as the one-seed and will face the winner of fourth-seeded Keiser (12-12) and fifth-seeded Warner (11-13).
The Fire concluded last season's SUN Tournament as the runner-up and will be searching for their first tournament championship in program history.
