CLEARWATER, Fla.—Senior pitcher
Claire Sekinger had flirted with perfection and no-hitters recently but a bounce seemed to go against her each time.
During Southeastern's first game of The Sun Conference Tournament, she finally broke through.
Sekinger struck out 10 and allowed just two first inning walks to throw her first no-hitter to help the Fire beat Warner 1-0 on a two-out RBI double by
Hailey Brooks in the bottom of the seventh. In the second round, the Fire dropped a 6-2 contest to second-seeded St. Thomas.
After allowing a leadoff walk in the first and another with two outs after two sacrifice bunts, Sekinger got a strikeout on three pitches to end the inning and retired the next 18 hitters in a row.
"I was able to cover the whole zone and switch speeds," said Sekinger of her appearance. "It was a big confidence booster to get ahead of hitters and it was something Coach Watkins and I had worked on throughout the week in bullpens."
A key out defensively came in the top of the sixth on a ball hit to shallow right field but was tracked down on the fly by
Kaitlyn Quillen to protect the no-hitter. A pair of groundouts and a flyout in the seventh set the stage in the bottom of the inning.
"I thought she had pretty good stuff in the first and was around the zone and to be able to get through that first inning and settle in was important for her," said coach
Kayla Watkins. "She had some good swings and misses and her change up was really good today. "
Chapel Cunningham led off the inning with a single to the pitcher then stole second to get into scoring position. A popped up bunt in foul territory was followed by a walk then a flyout to bring in Brooks with two out and two on. Her double down the right field line ended the game.
"I think that pitch that she crushed was really similar to the pitch that she flew out on in the previous at bat," said Watkins. "To see her make that adjustment and to be in the moment was huge."
The Fire were limited to just four hits in the game and flew out 14 times.
Four errors was the undoing in the second game. Two in the first inning led to three runs for the Bobcats, but the Fire answered back in the second, plating two on a sacrifice fly by Quillen and an error. A two-out double in the third by
Lauren Sekinger gave the Fire two in scoring position but a groundout ended the inning.
Southeastern didn't record a hit the balance of the game as Sun Conference Pitcher of the Year Anna Toon retired the last eight hitters of the game, only allowing one walk the final four frames.
St. Thomas added a run in the third and two runs on two hits with an error bringing home one of the runs in the fourth.
The Fire will play Friday at 11:30 a.m. against Keiser in an elimination game.
