KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Southeastern University's season came to a heartbreaking close on Wednesday, as the Fire saw a one-run lead slip away late in a 2-1 extra-inning loss to top-seeded Oregon Tech in the NAIA Softball Opening Round.
SEU broke a scoreless tie in the third inning. With two outs, Raylei McKinney, Leah Gonzalez, and Lauren Sekinger delivered three consecutive singles, the last driving in McKinney for a 1-0 lead.
The Fire held that advantage until the bottom of the seventh, when Oregon Tech tied the game with a lead off solo home run. In the eighth, the Owls completed the comeback with back-to-back hits, including a walk-off single that landed just fair past third base and rolled down the left-field line.
Edan Playa was strong in the circle in the season finale, throwing all 7.1 innings. She allowed eight hits, two earned runs, one walk, and struck out two, finishing the season with a 20-7 record.
Offensively, the Fire tallied seven hits, all singles, with contributions from seven different players. McKinney singled and scored the lone run, while Sekinger drove her in. Gonzalez, Ella Brooks, Hailey Brooks, Nicole Wasserstrom, and Hailey Braley also recorded hits.
SEU threatened multiple times throughout the game. The Fire put runners on base in each of the first three innings and loaded the bases in both the seventh and eighth but couldn't capitalize. In the seventh, Braley led off with a single, Cunningham reached on an error, and McKinney walked, but Oregon Tech escaped the jam. One inning later, singles by Ella Brooks and Wasserstrom and a walk by Kassidy Moore filled the bases again before the Owls shut the door.
The Fire once again proved their place among the NAIA's elite, pushing the nation's No. 2-ranked team to the limit in an intense postseason battle. The loss mirrored Southeastern's 2024 postseason finish, where they also fell in the Opening Round to a Cascade Conference team by a single run (3-2 vs. Eastern Oregon).
Despite the tough ending, Southeastern (42-11) capped off another exceptional campaign. The 42 wins mark the program's most since 2022 and the fourth-highest total in school history.
