Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 ALVA, Okla. – It was a day of bad firsts for Southeastern on Saturday as the Savage Storm suffered its first double-header sweep against a Great American Conference opponent in the league's three-year history, falling to Northwestern Oklahoma State 17-4 in game one and 13-7 in the finale.
The losses drop SE to 29-13 overall on the year and 22-9 in GAC play which keeps them ahead of the Rangers in the standings by a slim half-game margin as NWOSU improves to 33-13 overall and 21-9 in conference.
Unfortunately the firsts didn't stop with the sweep as the Rangers also picked up a win on Friday and become the first team in the GAC to hand the Storm a series defeat in four games. In the three season SE has been tied, two games each, with five opponents including this season, but had not previously been on the losing end of a regular season series.
The wind played a big role in both contests, with the Rangers taking advantage of it blowing out to dead center while the Storm did not.
Southeastern put up nine hits in the opener, getting three from
Sydney Kramer and two more from
Laramie Beal, but NWOSU answered with 15 hits, nine of them home runs, with two players combining for seven.
Jessica Simmons added a pair of RBI, while
Haley Strawn and
Courtney Riddle chipped in one each.
The Storm pitching took the brunt of the day's bad luck, with
Mindy McElroy getting the start and suffering the loss after tossing just 1.2 innings while allowing nine runs, five earned, on nine hits.
Hosanna McCoy faced three batters and recorded an out before
Rachel Jones tossed the final 2.0 innings of the game and was hit with eight runs on six hits.
Strawn put the Storm on the board first with an RBI single that scored Kramer in the top of the first inning, but the Rangers answered with four of their first six batter hitting solo home runs to mount a 4-1 lead.
A Simmons single would plate McElroy and
Arianna Jones in the top of the second to cut the deficit to 4-3, but NWOSU would add five in the bottom of the second thanks to a pair of homers and a pair of Storm errors to take a 9-3 lead.
Riddle singled home Beal in the third, but again the Rangers answered in the bottom half of the inning, this time with pair of homers, one a three-run shot, to take a 13-4 lead.
They would add a two-run home run and a two-run single in the fourth to set the final to 17-4 in the five-inning run-rule.
In the finale, Simmons and
Lauren Renneker each added a pair of hits, with Renneker driving in three runs, while Beal added two RBI and
Arianna Jones drove in one.
Jacee Bennett got the start and was saddled with the loss after tossing 2.2 innings and allowing nine runs, eight earned, on 12 hits with a pair of strikeouts.
McCoy made her second appearance of the day, this time throwing 3.1 innings and allowing four runs on five hits.
NWOSU took the lead in the bottom of the first at 1-0, but a Renneker sac fly in the top of the second would score Beal and even the game at 1-1.
The Rangers would then put up five runs in the bottom of the second inning thanks to three home runs to mount a 6-1 lead.
SE clawed back with
Arianna Jones singling home McCoy in the fourth inning, followed by Beal driving in Simmons and Kramer scoring on a wild pitch in the fifth to make the score 6-4.
However, the Storm would commit both of their errors in the bottom of the fifth inning which allowed NWOSU to put five more runs on the board and take an 11-4 lead.
A Renneker two-run homer and an RBI double by Beal in the sixth inning would close the gap to 11-7, but the Rangers would get a two-run home in the bottom of the sixth to make the final 13-7.
