Game Matchup: No. 9 Keiser University Seahawks vs. No. 3 Southeastern University Fire
Records:Â No. 9Â Keiser Seahawks (42-7) vs. No. 3 Southeastern Fire (42-5)
Game Score:Â No. 9Â Keiser 9, No. 3 Southeastern 1
Pitchers of Record: W: M. Miller (20-7), L: M. Zelenka (16-3)
Time of Game:Â 2:00 PM
Eddie C. Moore Complex | Clearwater, Fla.
CLEARWATER, Fla. The Keiser University softball team punched their ticket to the first Sun Conference Championship game in program history, dismantling No. 3 Southeastern University 9-1 in five innings on Thursday afternoon in Clearwater to advance to 43-7 on the season. Sarah Phipps was the star of the afternoon, going 2-for-3 with two home runs and four RBI in one of the most dominant individual performances of the season. Maggie Miller was equally impressive in the circle, throwing a complete-game five-inning shutout and inducing two double plays while holding one of the top lineups in the NAIA to just three hits and one earned run.
Keiser needed just one inning to seize complete control of the game. After Kaci Kidd struck out to open the frame, Faith Campos drew a walk and Genesis Iglesias followed with another. Macy Schaaf singled to the pitcher to load the bases with one out, and a throwing error by Southeastern's pitcher allowed both Iglesias and Campos to score, making it 2-0. Phipps then stepped in and drove the next pitch over the left field fence for a two-run home run, pushing the lead to 4-0 before Southeastern recorded a second out. Jordan Brantley added a solo home run up the middle two batters later to cap the five-run first and set the tone for the rest of the afternoon. Southeastern got one back in the second on an Ava Planeta sacrifice fly that scored Nicole Wasserstrom, but Miller locked down and retired the next nine batters in a row. Keiser added two more in the third when Macy Schaaf scored on a wild pitch and Shoemaker delivered a sacrifice fly to score Phipps, who had reached on a first base error. Phipps put the game completely out of reach in the fifth when she launched her second home run of the afternoon, a two-run shot to left center that scored Schaaf and pushed the final to 9-1 as Keiser closed out the mercy-rule victory.
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- Keiser defeats No. 3 Southeastern 9-1 in five innings to advance to the first Sun Conference Championship game in program history. The Seahawks improve to 43-7 on the season. It is the second meeting between these two teams in the tournament, with Keiser winning the rematch emphatically after dropping the series opener to Southeastern earlier in the week.
- Sarah Phipps delivered the performance of the tournament, going 2-for-3 with two home runs and four RBI. Her first home run was a two-run shot to left field in the first inning and her second was a two-run blast to left center in the fifth. She is now batting .364 on the season with five home runs and 40 RBI.
- Maggie Miller threw a complete-game five-inning shutout, allowing just one earned run on three hits, one walk, one hit batter, and one sacrifice fly on 40 pitches and 27 strikes. She induced two double plays and held Southeastern's powerful lineup to a .200 batting average on the night. Miller improves to 8-1 on the season with a 1.63 ERA.
- Jordan Brantley launched a solo home run up the middle in the first inning, his fourth home run of the season, to cap the Keiser five-run first and push the lead to 5-0. He also tripled to right center in the fifth inning, finishing the game 2-for-3 with two hits and an RBI. He is now batting .302 on the season.
- Lanie Macicek went 2-for-2 on the day, singling to shortstop in the second inning and up the middle in the fourth, reaching base in both of her plate appearances. She is now batting .319 on the season with a .405 on-base percentage.
- Macy Schaaf went 2-for-3 with two runs scored, singling to center in the third to set up the go-ahead sequence, and reaching on a fielder's choice in the fifth before scoring on the Phipps two-run home run. She is now batting .411 on the season with 36 RBI.
- Keiser's five-run first inning was fueled in part by a throwing error from Southeastern's pitcher that allowed two unearned runs to score with the bases loaded before Phipps drove in two more with her first home run of the game. The first inning set the tone and Keiser never let up.
- Olivia Shoemaker delivered a sacrifice fly to right field in the third inning to score Sarah Phipps, who had reached second on a first base error by Southeastern, and push the Keiser lead to 7-1. She now has 25 RBI on the season.
- Miller induced back-to-back double plays in the fourth and fifth innings, turning a Nicole Wasserstrom groundout into a 4-6-3 double play in the fourth and a Ava Planeta groundout into a 5-3 double play in the fifth, each time shutting down any potential Southeastern threat before it could develop.
- Genesis Iglesias went 1-for-2 with a walk, a run scored, and a single to center in the fifth inning that started the final Keiser rally before giving way to pinch runner Tessa DiPietra. She is now batting .353 on the season with a .474 on-base percentage and 46 RBI.
- Southeastern committed two errors on the afternoon, including the critical throwing error by pitcher Maria Zelenka in the first inning that directly led to two unearned Keiser runs and opened the floodgates in what became a decisive five-run frame.
- Keiser held Southeastern to just three hits in the game, limiting one of the top offensive teams in the NAIA to a single earned run and keeping their powerful top of the order, including Raylei McKinney, who entered batting .511 on the season, completely in check throughout the afternoon.
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The Seahawks advance to the Sun Conference Championship game tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. in the first championship game appearance in program history. Their opponent will be determined late tonight.
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