Box Score LAKELAND, Fla. – Maria Zelenka fired a two-hit shutout, and Leah Gonzalez delivered a walk-off single to give Southeastern University a 1-0 victory over Florida Memorial on Friday.
After a one-out single by Hailey Bradley in the bottom of the seventh, Ella Brooks followed with a two-out single down the left field line. Gonzalez then delivered her 200th career hit with a game-winning single to center field, scoring Bradley for the walk-off win.
SEU (36-7) opened its fifth consecutive Sun Conference series with a victory and extended its winning streak against the Lions (14-29) to 11 games.
In the circle, Zelenka continued her dominant stretch, improving to 17-3 with her 13th complete game of the season. The sophomore has allowed just one earned run over her last eight appearances (44.1 innings), boasting a 0.16 ERA in that span. On Friday, she scattered two singles and struck out six.
At the plate, SEU collected eight hits, with Chapel Cunningham and Bradley combining for four. Cunningham went 2-for-3 with a stolen base, while Bradley recorded two singles and scored the game-winning run.
Kassidy Moore provided the only extra-base hit with a double in the second inning. Gonzalez added her game-winning RBI single, while Brooks and Raylei McKinney each contributed a base hit.
The Fire put runners on base in every inning but couldn't break through until the seventh. Cunningham led off the first with a single, and Moore doubled in the second. Cunningham walked and stole second in the third but was left stranded. McKinney reached on an error in the fourth, Bradley and Cunningham hit back-to-back singles in the fifth, and McKinney laid down a bunt single in the sixth but was stranded at second.
Southeastern and Florida Memorial will wrap up the three-game series, and the Sun Conference regular season, on Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader. First pitch is at 12 p.m.
