Fire Sweep USCB with Impressive Showings

HARDEEVILLE, S.C.— On Saturday, Southeastern completed its 14th sweep of the season with 9-2 and 7-2 wins versus South Carolina Beaufort. The two victories allowed the Fire (38-13, 17-5 TSC) to lead the Sun Conference in wins with just one doubleheader left in the regular season.
Following a walk and an error, Sam Holcomb opened game one with an RBI single in the top of the first, driving in Haliegh Harrell to make it 1-0 Fire.
Although there was a run surrendered in the initial half inning of the matchup, game one started out as a pitcher’s duel between Southeastern’s Hannah Bodenhorn and USCB’s Abby Pac.
After walking the first two batters of the competition, Bodenhorn reacted by retiring the next seven Sand Sharks, six by strikeout.
Despite the fantastic effort in the circle by Bodenhorn, USCB utilized smart base running to tie the contest in the bottom of the fourth. The Sand Sharks notched a run of their own with two singles, a sacrifice bunt and a stolen base.
Pac held the Fire to just one hit through five full frames, but got into trouble in the sixth.
Kiah Ferrell and Britt Robinson started a hit parade with back-to-back base knocks as the Fire regained the lead on RBI groundouts by Heather Faulk and Ramsey Sullivan to make it 3-1.
Southeastern, who had been 0-5 with two outs until this point in the competition, then rattled off six straight two-out hits.
Kristin Mihalic doubled to right center and was promptly brought around by a Harrell single, giving the Fire a three-run lead. After Harrell scored on an errant throw, Lauren Watters and Holcomb were driven in by Brandee Pietrzak following their singles, as the advantage grew to six. Brianna Perez capped off the seven-run frame with a single to left center, which plated Pietrzak and gave SEU an 8-1 lead.
Southeastern added another run in the seventh as Watters reached safely on an infield single with the bases loaded, scoring Faulk.
As SEU blew open the contest, Bodenhorn kept silencing Sand Shark batters. The junior recorded four hitless half innings, while fanning an incredible 13 hitters on the day.
The lone blemish on Bodenhorn’s performance came in the top of the seventh as the Sand Sharks got a second run back on a longball to center. However, the pitcher responded by striking out the next three in the order to seal a 9-2 victory. The win was the Nashville native’s 16th of the year.
The Fire picked up in game two where they left off in the first competition.
Thanks to another double by Pietrzak that scored Watters and Holcomb and an RBI single by Ferrell, Southeastern had a 3-0 advantage before USCB had an at bat. Pietrzak’s four RBIs on two doubles gave her a team-leading 40 RBIs in 2018.
The Sand Sharks fought back with two runs in the bottom of the frame, but the Fire would answer once more.
In the top of the second, Harrell, who finished the day 3-for-6 with three RBIs and four runs scored, launched a solo shot over to double SEU’s lead. Harrell improved the single season Fire record for hits to 75 with her performance.
Two sacrifice hits would allow Holcomb to cross in the third, marking the fifth straight inning the Fire scored a run, as Southeastern went up 5-2.
After Britney Schmidt drew a bases-loaded walk in the fifth, Harrell came to the plate again in the top of the sixth. The freshman lined an opposite-field longball over the right field fence for her second home run of the game and team-high seventh bomb of the season.
The Fire’s six extra base hits propelled them to a 7-2 triumph in the latter of the two contests. With the wins, SEU has won 13 of its last 14 games, all of which have been TSC matchups.
Southeastern will look to stay hot in conference play when the Fire take on Warner in their regular season finale with a home doubleheader next Saturday April 28. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 1 p.m.