Holcomb’s Walk-Off Helps SEU Softball Split with Grand View

LAKELAND, Fla.—In between a slow start and a rough finish, the Fire softball team strung together enough hits to come away with a split in its doubleheader with Grand View.
Sam Holcomb’s RBI single in the bottom of the seventh helped Southeastern win the first game 3-2, but the Fire dropped the second 14-6 to move to 16-15 on the season.
The Vikings loaded the bases with the first three batters of the inning, scoring a run on a sacrifice fly and a fielder’s choice.
Starting pitcher Ashley Appell settled in and retired 12 of the next 15 hitters she faced to keep her team in the game. The sophomore earned her fifth win of the season, surrendering just the two runs in the first on four hits with four walks and six strikeouts.
A sacrifice fly by Holcomb in the third got the Fire on the board for the first time. She also led off the sixth with a single to short, then came around to score on a two-out single by Ramsey Sullivan to tie the game.
After Appell sat the Vikings down in order in the seventh, back-to-back singles by Bailee Moll and Heather Faulk put the Fire in business. With one out and runners at second and third, Holcomb drove a pitch to center field to give the Fire the win.
Holcomb finished the first game 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI, and Faulk was 2-for-4.
The Fire came out hot in the second game, plating five runs in the bottom of the first to take the early advantage. Southeastern sent 10 to the plate, and scored five runs on five hits, highlighted by an RBI double by Haleigh Harrell, and a two-run double by Kristen Schwartz. Whittney Purdy also drove in a run with a single to right, and Hannah Bonner drove in one with a single up the middle.
However, the Fire struggled to string hits together against relief pitcher Meaghan Grah, who allowed just one earned on seven hits over six innings of work with six strikeouts and a walk.
The Vikings picked up an RBI double in the third, then got a one out solo homer in the sixth. With two outs, the Vikings scored 11 runs on eight hits to go from down three to up eight.
Faulk was 4-for-4 in the second game with two runs scored. Harrell, Holcomb, and Schwartz had two hits each in the second game.
The Fire return to action on Wednesday at the College of Coastal Georgia.