CLEARWATER, Fla. — The Fire opened the Sun Conference Softball Tournament in commanding fashion Thursday evening, shutting out New College of Florida 7-0 behind a dominant performance from Edan Playa.
Playa scattered six hits over seven innings to earn her sixth shutout of the season and extend Southeastern's team shutout streak to five straight games. The Fire (39-7) have now outscored their opponents 21-0 across the last 35 innings, with their pitching staff not allowing a single run—earned or unearned—since April 20.
Thursday's win also marked Southeastern's fourth win in as many meetings this season with New College (18-29), and their 15th shutout in 46 games.
SEU wasted little time on offense, taking a 2-0 lead in the second inning and never looking back. Nicole Wasserstrom singled home the second run of the inning after an outfield miscue allowed Lauren Sekinger to score the first. That would be all the support Playa needed, as the sophomore left-hander improved to 17-4 on the season. She allowed six hits and two walks while striking out two, stranding multiple runners on base and silencing their bats the rest of the way.
The Fire's offense continued to chip away. Hailey Brooks made it 3-0 in the third with a sharp RBI single to left. In the fourth, Ella Brooks added a sacrifice fly, followed by a Leah Gonzalez RBI fielder's choice, and RBI singles from Raylei McKinney and Sekinger to push the lead to 7-0.
At the plate, Sekinger and Hailey Bradley both finished 3-for-3 with a run scored. Wasserstrom had a perfect 2-for-2 night with two runs and an RBI. Brooks went 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI, while Gonzalez scored and drove in one. Cunningham singled and scored, and McKinney added an RBI single.
With the win, second-seeded Southeastern advances in the winner's bracket to face top-seeded St. Thomas on Friday at 2 p.m. The Fire took two out of three in a tight series against the Bobcats earlier this month, with all three games decided by two runs or fewer.
