I don't understand how the closer role works. I usually never use a closer, but I have in 2 scenarios: My best RP is a a RL starter with 70-90 IPs and I set him to come in the 8th & set him to throw 30-35 Ps.. Or my best 2 RPs have less than 50 IPs and I set them both to come in the 8th & set to throw 10-15 Ps, depending on the actual pitcher. This has seemed to work as planned. (I uncheck the 'only use closer in save situations' box)
In a current league only 4 games in, I have 3 RPs with 39-41 IPs each set as closer and set to come in the 7th INN. In a 1 run game, a setup A started the 7th and 8th INN. I did not have the 'use only in save situations' box unmarked- by mistake- but it shouldn't have mattered bc it was a 1 run game.
Soooo... How does this work? Why didn't one of my closers come in during a save situation in the 7th if they are set that way?
The way I have it set is the best way to manage my staff in theory bc of IPs (and quality of those IPs) of those 3 guys and others. I can change my 3rd Setup A to setup B and change the 3 closers to Setup A & set them to come in the 8th and it will probably work just as well, but... The way I have it set is optimal if Sparky actually made sense.

I’ve never been able to get a closer to enter the game consistently in the 7th inning.

Once upon a time I did a deep dive into trying to reverse engineer the algorithm for bullpen usage. That was years ago, and while I don't think anything has changed, my memory may be inaccurate, and my original findings may not have been correct.

BUT - here's a quick summary of how I believe it works.

For any game situation, when a reliever is called for, the algorithm assesses two things first:
-- Inning
-- Score differential (e.g. tied, up by 1, down by 2, etc.)

Then, for each possible permutation of those 2 variables, the algorithm has a predefined hierarchy in which it looks for the right reliever to bring into the game.

For example (and this is purely hypothetical - I don't know what the exact hierarchy is for any situation):
7th inning, up by 2:
Setup A
Setup B
Closer A
Closer B
LHS/RHS
Long A
Long B
Mopup

The algorithm then works its way down the list until it finds a pitcher with that role whose settings make him available to come into the game. If it finds a Setup A who is available, it brings him in. If no Setup A is available, it moves on to Setup B. Etc.

In this hypothetical example, the closer will not be used - even though it is a save situation - unless there are no Setup A or Setup B pitchers available.

Again, I do not know what the exact hierarchies are for any given game situation, but I believe that the only situations in which closers are at the top of the hierarchy are in the 8th inning or later of close games. So, as 06gsp surmises, it doesn't matter that the situation you describe is technically a save situation; the closer will not be the first one chosen.

Note that "is it a save situation" is not explicitly one of the variables used to characterize the decision. I believe the only time that is considered is after the algorithm has already reached the point on the list where Closer A is listed. Then, if you have checked the "use closer only in save situations" box, the algorithm factors that when deciding if the closer is available. If you checked that box, and the game is NOT a save situation, then Sparky considers the closer unavailable, and he will move down the list to the next category of pitcher.