CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Southeastern's Friday at the Sun Conference Tournament unfolded as a test of resilience, and by the end of the night, the top-seeded Fire had done enough to keep their championship hopes alive in Clearwater.
Facing elimination in the nightcap, SEU delivered a composed and timely 4-2 victory over Coastal Georgia to punch its ticket to Championship Saturday. The Fire set the tone early, manufacturing two runs in the opening inning.
Hailey Bradley jumpstarted the offense with a double and later scored on
Raylei McKinney's RBI single, before
Nicole Wasserstrom added another run-scoring hit to make it 2-0.
Coastal Georgia responded in the second inning to tie the game, but Southeastern answered immediately with a decisive third inning.
Ella Brooks reached and applied pressure on the basepaths, eventually coming around to score as the Fire took advantage of a defensive miscue. McKinney followed with a sacrifice fly, and
Erica Ramsey added another, giving SEU a 4-2 advantage without needing a big swing.
From there, the Fire leaned on their pitching and defense to finish the job.
Emma Vickers navigated through traffic to earn the win, limiting damage and keeping Coastal Georgia from building momentum.
Edan Playa took over late and shut the door with 2.2 scoreless innings, stranding potential tying runs and securing the save. Despite allowing eight hits, Southeastern controlled the game with timely outs and avoided the kind of extended innings that proved costly earlier in the day.
Offensively, Bradley led the way by scoring twice and setting the tone at the top of the order, while McKinney and Wasserstrom each drove in runs in key situations. The Fire's ability to execute in small moments—advancing runners, capitalizing on opportunities, and playing clean situational softball—proved to be the difference in a win-or-go-home setting.
That performance stood in contrast to the afternoon opener, when Southeastern fell 9-1 to Keiser in a game that quickly slipped away. The Seahawks plated five runs in the first inning, using a combination of timely hits and defensive miscues to seize control. A two-run home run from Sarah Phipps and a solo shot from Jordan Brantley highlighted the early damage, and although only two of the nine runs were earned, the extended inning created a deficit SEU could not overcome.
Southeastern managed to get on the board in the second inning when Wasserstrom came home on
Ava Planeta's sacrifice fly, but the offense was otherwise limited to just three hits. Keiser added insurance runs in the third and fifth innings, including another home run from Phipps, to maintain separation throughout.
Maria Zelenka took the loss in the circle, while also accounting for two of the Fire's three hits offensively. The game ultimately came down to the first inning, where the combination of errors and timely swings put SEU in an early hole.
By day's end, however, the Fire had reset and responded. The split results send Southeastern into Championship Saturday with momentum and a clear path ahead. To claim the Sun Conference Tournament title, SEU will need to defeat Keiser twice, beginning with the first game at the adjusted start time of 10:30 a.m.
