DURANT, Okla. – For the fifth-straight season Southeastern will venture east of town to the Durant Multi-Sports Complex to host one of the largest Division II softball tournaments in the country Feb. 8-10.
While the name of the event may have shifted to the Southeastern Regional Invitational, fans will still be treated to three days, 16 teams and a total of 47 contests spread over the four fields at the Durant Multi-Sports Complex.
The 2013 field is spread over five states and features members of five different conferences in a slate of contests that will see some of the Central and South Central Region's top teams go head-to-head.
The weekend's tournament will feature games on four fields at 10 a.m., noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Feb. 8-10.
The Savage Storm comes into the weekend off an opening weekend in San Antonio, Texas, where they posted a 3-2 record facing schools from the Lone Star and Heartland Conferences.
SE opened the season with three-straight wins, all over LSC competition, before dropping back-to-back contests to Incarnate Word and St. Mary's.
The Storm has a trio of hitters posting better than .300 averages out of the gate, led by
Courtney Riddle who is hitting .500 on the young season.
Whitney Hamilton is the reigning Great American Conference Player of the Week after posting a home run and seven RBI over the weekend and driving in the go ahead runs in each SE win.
Jacee Bennett posted the best weekend in the circle, making five appearances with one start and posting a 2-0 record with one save.
Mindy McElroy posted a win and a save in three starts.
SE is joined in the tournament by fellow GAC schools Arkansas-Monticello, Arkansas Tech, Henderson State, Ouachita Baptist and Southern Nazarene.
UAM enters the week with a 4-0 record, while OBU comes to town at 2-2 and HSU makes the trip at 1-5. ATU and SNU have not played yet.
The Storm will also be joined by some familiar foes from the LSC in Angelo State and Cameron.
ASU is the only ranked team in the field and comes to Durant at No. 4 in the nation with a 5-0 record, while CU makes the trip off to a 1-3 start.
The MIAA will match the GAC with a total of six teams in the field. Central Missouri, Lincoln, Missouri Southern State, Missouri Western State, Northeastern State and Washburn will all be making the trip south.
WU is the only MIAA squad to have opened its season yet and did so with a 2-2 record.
St. Mary's will be making the trip s the only team from the Heartland Conference and comes to town with a 3-2 record.
Drury rounds out the competition and represents the Great Lakes Valley Conference. DU will be opening its season in Durant.
