Pitching Dazzles in Doubleheader Split

CLERMONT, Fla. – Southeastern headed back to Clermont, Florida for its 13th and 14th games played at a neutral site. In today’s Top 25 matchup the #16 Fire battled #4 Marian in game one of today’s doubleheader. Southeastern struck first, but a pair of runs in the third was enough of a deficit to hold off the Fire. The Fire rebounded against Saint Francis (Ind.) to capture their 19th win of the season by the score of 7-2.
Entering today’s action the Fire had won eight of their last nine contests. Southeastern’s offense looked promising in the early innings as it was able to tally a run off of Marian’s Breena Smith. A leadoff walk by Kiah Ferrell and a perfectly placed sacrifice bunt by Ramsey Sullivan advanced a runner into scoring position. With two outs, Lauren Watters singled to center field scoring the pinch runner Jaz Szierer from from second.
Ashley Appell dealt a complete game striking out eight in the process. The freshman’s only blemishes came in the top of the third when Marian tallied two runs, both of which were unearned.
From the third inning on, Smith settled into a grove holding the Fire to three hits.
Kiah Ferrell notched the Fire’s second hit of the contest with a double to begin the fourth. Southeastern could not manufacture the equalizer.
The Fire’s only other hit came in the top of the sixth off of the bat of Britney Schmidt who singled up the middle.
“Ashley threw the ball well inside the circle and our team showed some tenacity against a top ranked opponent,” said coach Anna Welsh.
Game 2: After a two-hour break, the Fire came out like a well-oiled machine against Saint Francis.
The offensive damage began in the top of the first when Haleigh Harrell launched a two-run home run over the centerfield wall. In the following inning, Ferrell launched a home run of her own to increase the Fire lead to 3-0.
The Cougars brought the game within one run in the second inning on three hits.
Appell relieved Ferrell inside the circle in the second inning. From this point forward, Appell dominated, striking out 10 in 5.2 innings of work.
Neither team scored until the fifth when Brianna Perez crossed home plate on a wild pitch.
The Fire proceeded to add three more tallies in the third inning to solidify a 7-2 victory.
Harrell finished the game 2-4 with 2 RBIs and a run scored. Lauren Watters, Brandee Pietrzak, Sam Holcomb, and Appell also all had hits for the Fire. As a team, the Fire stole a total of five bases in the game.
Southeastern will have three days off before taking on West Virginia Tech at home on March 13. The first pitches are scheduled for 2:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.