CLEARWATER, Fla.—Southeastern picked up its second walk-off win in 24 hours and then won back-to-back shutouts to advance to the championship round of The Sun Conference Softball Tournament tomorrow at noon against second-seeded St. Thomas.
"I'm so proud of our team, every player, every coach, our support staff; everyone kind of had to dig in," said coach
Kayla Watkins. "Such a gutsy win today, picking up a shutout against a team that won our conference and I'm so proud."
Trailing 2-1 to Keiser in the first game of the day,
Leah Gonzalez tied the game in the bottom of the sixth with a single up the middle to score
Raylei McKinney. The Seahawks then regained the lead on a fielder's choice in the top of the seventh. Southeastern loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning and got an RBI single to left from
Chapel Cunningham, who was 3-for-4 in the game, then McKinney's bases-loaded single to first base scored
Ella Brooks to win the game.
"I think we've known all year we physically have what it takes to be a championship program and I think from a mentality standpoint we've kind of been up and down," said Watkins. "To see that today was really a good indicator of what we're capable of on the mental side."
Claire Sekinger then threw a complete game shutout to help the Fire beat Florida Memorial 5-0. The senior struck out five and allowed just three hits.
Gonzalez led off the scoring with a single to left in the first then an RBI double by
Kaitlyn Quillen made it 2-0 in the fifth. The Fire added three in the sixth to end any thoughts of a comeback when they scored on an error and a two-run double by McKinney.
Edan Playa then tossed a complete game shutout against top-seeded Coastal Georgia to help the Fire win 2-0. Playa struck out three and allowed just five hits with no walks.
Gonzalez again got the Fire offense going with a two-out single to center field to score
Riley Sanders, then a two-out single to third by Cunningham in the fifth gave the Fire a two-run lead.
First pitch is at noon in Clearwater on Saturday. If the Fire win, the if necessary game will start at 2:30 p.m.
