COLUMBUS, Ga. — Southeastern suffered its first loss of the NAIA Softball World Series on Tuesday afternoon, falling 8-2 to Madonna at South Commons. The Fire will now move into the elimination bracket final and await the winner of Tuesday game between Indiana Wesleyan and Our Lady of the Lake.
Southeastern struck first in the opening inning.
Ella Brooks led off with an infield single, stole second, and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by
Hailey Bradley.
Raylei McKinney then reached on a Madonna fielding error that allowed Brooks to score for a 1-0 lead.
The Fire held the advantage through the first two innings behind
Edan Playa, who worked around three Madonna baserunners early. Southeastern also threatened in the fourth when
Nicole Wasserstrom doubled to left field and
Maria Zelenka followed with a single, but the inning ended on an interference play at third base.
Madonna broke the game open in the bottom of the third inning. After the leadoff hitter reached on a walk and another runner reached on catcher's interference, Brynn Anteau tied the game with an RBI single down the left field line. Two batters later, Jessica Dunkel launched a grand slam to left field to cap a five-run inning and give Madonna a 5-1 lead. All five runs in the inning were unearned following the earlier interference call.
Madonna added three more runs in the sixth inning with Faith Peschke delivering a two-run single before Anteau added another RBI single to stretch the lead to 8-1.
Southeastern added its final run in the seventh inning. Zelenka opened the frame with a single and later scored on an RBI fielder's choice from
Abby Franey.
The Fire finished with six hits in the game. Zelenka paced the offense by going 2-for-3 with a run scored, while Brooks, McKinney, Wasserstrom, and Sekinger each added a hit.
Madonna starter Camille Oyer improved to 24-0 after allowing two runs on six hits across six innings. Southeastern used three pitchers in the contest, with Playa taking the loss after allowing five runs — all unearned — in 2.2 innings of work.
If Indiana Wesleyan advances, Southeastern will face the Wildcats on Tuesday at approximately 5:30 p.m. If Our Lady of the Lake wins, the Fire and Saints will meet Wednesday at a time to be announced.