WINTER HAVEN, Fla. -- Southeastern is headed back to Columbus.

The Fire punched their ticket to the NAIA Softball World Series on Thursday afternoon, defeating Faulkner 1-0 in the if-necessary game of the NAIA Softball Opening Round Lakeland Bracket on a walk-off sacrifice bunt from Nicole Wasserstrom in the bottom of the seventh inning. The victory sends Southeastern to the World Series for the third time in program history, joining the 2016 and 2022 squads.

After nearly seven full innings of scoreless softball, Southeastern finally broke through in dramatic fashion.

Raylei McKinney opened the bottom of the seventh by drilling her second double of the afternoon into the right-center gap, immediately putting the winning run in scoring position. Erica Ramsey followed with a sacrifice bunt that moved McKinney to third, setting the stage for Wasserstrom. The senior catcher dropped a bunt in front of the plate, and McKinney raced home with the decisive run as the Fire stormed out of the dugout to celebrate their return to Columbus.

The dramatic finish capped off a tense pitchers' duel between Southeastern's Edan Playa and Faulkner's Abrianna Davis, with neither team able to generate sustained offense throughout the afternoon.

Playa delivered one of the best outings of her season in the circle, tossing a complete-game shutout while allowing just five hits and no walks across seven innings. The junior needed only 88 pitches to secure the victory and improve to 17-4 on the season.

Faulkner threatened first in the second inning when Sarah Williams singled and Kensley Wesley added another base hit to place runners on second and third with two outs. Playa responded with a strikeout of Kelbi Johnson to end the inning and preserve the scoreless tie.

Southeastern generated its first opportunity in the opening frame after McKinney doubled to right field, but Davis escaped the inning without damage.

Both pitchers settled in from there.

Davis held the Fire lineup to just two total hits, matching Playa inning for inning through the middle frames. Southeastern did not place another runner into scoring position until the seventh, while Playa continued to work efficiently through the Faulkner lineup.

The Eagles nearly broke through in the fifth after Kelbi Johnson singled, stole second, and advanced to third on a groundout, but Playa forced another routine ground ball to strand the runner 60 feet away.

Faulkner mounted its biggest threat in the top of the seventh.

Madelyn Becker opened the inning with a single before a sacrifice bunt moved the potential go-ahead run into scoring position. After an error placed runners at the corners with one out, Playa remained composed and retired Kelbi Johnson on a fly ball before inducing a comebacker from Bailea Boone to escape the inning and keep the game scoreless.

That escape set up Southeastern's championship-winning rally moments later.

McKinney accounted for both Fire hits in the victory, finishing 2-for-3 with two doubles and the game-winning run scored. Wasserstrom was credited with the lone RBI of the afternoon on the sacrifice bunt that sent Southeastern back to the NAIA World Series.

Davis suffered the hard-luck loss after allowing just one run across 6.1 innings, while Faulkner closed its season at 37-16.

With the win, Southeastern completed a remarkable run through the elimination bracket, winning three consecutive elimination games to capture the Lakeland Bracket title.

The 2026 NAIA Softball World Series will take place May 21-27 at the South Commons Complex in Columbus, Georgia, with the official bracket set to be released Friday.