The Seneca softball team and starting pitcher Hayden Pfeifer found themselves in a very tough spot in the sixth inning of Monday’s 3-2 victory over visiting Prairie Central.

With the game tied, an infield error and a walk had Hawks standing on first and third base with no one out.

“Personally, I love high-pressure situations like that,” Pfeifer said. “I feel like I really excel when I’m in spots like that. I was a big part of how we got into that situation to start with, and I was determined to get us out of it. Instead of thinking, ‘I need to get three outs to get out of this,’ I was really just thinking, ‘Get this batter and move on.’ ”

The junior right-hander then struck out the next three batters in order on 12 pitches to keep the game tied up.

Then Fighting Irish clean-up batter Camryn Stecken blasted the first pitch of the bottom of the inning from Prairie Central pitcher Faith Feilds over the fence in left-center field to put her team ahead for the first time in the contest – and for good.

“My first at-bat wasn’t very good at all,” Stecken said of a first-inning strikeout. “I was thinking way too much, didn’t really have a set plan in my head and just wasn’t disciplined. Second time up I felt like I put a pretty good swing on the ball [a flyout to center], but just got under it a little. My last at-bat I went up looking for a one pitch in one spot, and I got it.

“I knew off the bat it was gone. Coming off what Hayden had done in the top of the inning made me even more excited.”

With the one-run lead, Pfeifer closed out the win with a grounder back to the circle and a pair of strikeouts.

Pfiefer finished the complete-game win allowing just one hit and one earned run with four walks and 10 strikeouts.

Seneca has now won its first 13 games of the season.

“The odds of getting out of any first and third, no-out situation without allowing a run can’t be very high,” Seneca coach Brian Holman said. “That was a tough spot.

“The first three innings, and she (would) probably tell you the same, Hayden wasn’t pitching very well. We had a talk before she went out for the fourth and from there she just really locked in. She was just getting more spin on her pitches the final four innings, and when she does that she can be tough to hit.”

After Prairie Central scored twice in the third, Seneca bounced back to tie the game as Emma Mino smacked a one-out double ahead of a two-run homer to right-center off the bat of Lexie Buis.

“Lexie and Cam both showed their experience today,” Holman said. “Both didn’t have the greatest of first at-bats but made the adjustments they needed to make to come up with really good swings when we needed it.”

Pfeifer said that collectively her team doesn’t get to frazzled in tight situations, instead using experience and belief.

“With most of us playing together for three years now, there is a trust that has been built,” Pfeifer said. “We all know there are going to be times where we are in a tough spot, but we also all know we have confidence in each other that we are going to come through. This team is all about picking one another up and doing whatever we can to overcome adversity.”