HATTIESBURG, Miss. — Southeastern needed to split a doubleheader Wednesday for a return trip to the NAIA World Series.
A 2-1 loss, followed by a 6-2 loss to No. 1 seed Southern Oregon ended the Hattiesburg Bracket in the opening round for the Fire, the No. 3 seed in the bracket.
After losing to the Fire in the first game of the tournament, the Raiders won four straight elimination games to advance to the World Series.
Southern Oregon took a 2-0 lead in the first game of the day with a two-out double off the right field wall.
Once again, the Fire offense was held in check, scratching across a run in the top of the fourth on an RBI single by Brandee Pietrzak. Three of SEU’s five hits came in the fourth.
The best chance for the Fire came in the sixth with a leadoff single by Pietrzak, followed by a fielder’s choice and a walk. A stolen base by pinch runner Brianna Perez put the tying run 60 feet away, but Natalie Hughes lined into a double play to end the inning.
In the seventh, Heather Faulk stole third after reaching on a fielder’s choice, but a pop out ended the game.
Senior Lindsie Scholwinski scattered seven hits, struck out two and walked two in six innings of work.
In the “if necessary” game, the Fire took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second on an RBI double by Cat Maldonado, and brought in the second run following an error during a stolen base attempt by Sammy Jacobson.
However, the Fire recorded just five more hits the rest of the game.
Southern Oregon put together a four-run fifth inning to take the lead, recording four straight one-out singles, then scored on a fielder’s choice and a sacrifice fly.
The Raiders added an additional run in the sixth on a two-out triple, and one more in the seventh on a pinch-hit RBI single with two outs.
Sam Holcomb finished the day 5-for-7, which included a 3-for-3 effort in the second game. Pietrzak was 2-for-3 in the first game, and also had a hit in the second.
In her final game with the Fire, Scholwinski struck out six over seven innings.
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