LEWISTON, Idaho -They had been there before, just not in the World Series.

Southeastern was down six runs after five innings and came back for a 9-7 win over the defending national champions in Georgia Gwinnett in their first game of the 2022 Avista NAIA World Series.

Sam Faith’s two-out, two-run homer to center in the bottom of the ninth sealed the dramatic comeback.

“It doesn’t matter who we are playing, we’re just ecstatic to be out here,” said Faith. “I had a lot of guys picking me up after my second strikeout and that flipped me around because you can’t go far if you don’t have a team that backs you like the guys we do.”

The Grizzlies (46-15) took a 2-0 lead on a pair of two-out solo homers in the first and racked up four more during the fifth on four hits and an error.

Southeastern responded in the bottom of the inning with an RBI double by Thomas Broyles and a sacrifice fly by Brian Fuentes. Gary Lora got the team within a run with a three-run homer to center to complete the five-run inning.

Broyles scored on a throwing error when GGC attempted to turn a double play in the seventh to tie the game and Faith gave the Fire their first lead of the night on an RBI single.

A throwing error in the eighth allowed the Grizzlies to tie the game, but also set the stage for Faith.

Abdel Guadalupe doubled to lead off the inning for his team-best third hit of the game and Faith’s homer gave the Fire their 55^th win in 58 games.

In eight postseason games this season, Faith is hitting .516 with three home runs and 11 RBIs after his 2-for-5 night.

Alex Munroe picked up the win, going an inning and a third scoreless in relief of Robb Adams. Adams tossed 133 pitches over 7.2 innings allowing four earned on seven hits with 10 strikeouts.

Southeastern will now face LSU Shreveport on Monday at 6 p.m. Eastern.

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COLUMBUS, Ga.– With their backs against the wall, the Southeastern University Fire fought to keep their World Series dreams alive as they defeated Oregon Tech tonight by a score of 3-2 to remain one of the six teams still in the National Tournament.

The Fire quickly fell behind the Owls after a single, walk, and wild pitch allowed the first run in the top of the first.

In the bottom of the second, Ashley Ellison doubled into right center and would come around to score off of a Chapel Cunningham single and a throwing error, tying the contest at one.

The must-win contest would remain tied until Erica Stahl once again played hero, driving her sixth long ball of the season over the left field wall for two more Fire runs.

“My approach was just to pick a good pitch, swing at it, and move the runner,” Stahl said.

The Owls would make it a one-run game in the top of the seventh after a double and two singles but a fly out would strand the tying and go-ahead run on base, securing the Fire’s narrow 3-2 victory.

Autumn Hunter went five innings allowing one run on four hits while Claire Sekingerwas granted the win after going two innings, giving up one more run on four more hits and striking out two.

Cunningham ended the contest going 2-3 while Stahl collected the Fire’s two RBI’s.

The Fire will now face off against Indiana Wesleyan on Monday at 1 p.m.

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COLUMBUS, Ga. – Two runs were all that was needed for the second-seeded Oklahoma City to send Southeastern University to the losers bracket as they took the Fire’s second World Series contest by a score of 2-0.
 
The Stars claimed their first run in the bottom of the second after back-to-back hits and a sacrifice fly into center field.
 
One inning later, OCU again led off the inning with back-to-back hits and grabbed their second run off of a throwing error.
 
Shelbey Cornelson would go on to concede just two hits to the Fire to close the 2-0 victory and advance her team to 51-6 on the season.
 
Claire Sekinger fell to 23-6 on the season after giving up one earned run on five hits and striking out four.
 
The Fire will now await the winner of Tennessee Wesleyan and Oregon Tech for their 6 p.m. losers bracket contest tomorrow.

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