Softball Finishes Series Sweep of OBU

DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern broke out the brooms on Saturday afternoon as it finished off the opening weekend of conference play by completing a four-game sweep of Ouachita Baptist, taking game one 4-3 before winning the finale 9-4 at the Southeastern Softball Field.
 
The wins lift the No. 24 ranked Savage Storm to 8-7 on the season overall and 4-0 in Great American Conference play, joining Arkansas-Monticello as the only teams to come out of the opening weekend unscathed.
 
SE will now hit the road for its first conference road trip as it makes its first-ever trip to Searcy, Ark., to face Harding Feb. 27-28.
 
I the opener the Storm fell behind early on an OBU solo homer in the second, but Breanna Smith answered with her first home run of the year in the bottom  half of the inning, a two-run shot that also scored Ashley Moore.
 
The Tigers would strike again in the top of the fifth on a two-run single to again put SE in a hole down 3-2.
 
But again the Storm would answer in the bottom half of the inning, first tying the game when a Haley Strawn single scored Courtney Riddle and then taking advantage of an error that allowed Strawn to score the go-ahead run which proved to be the game winner.
 
Jacee Bennett got the start and collected her third-straight win of the weekend and moved to 6-3 after tossing 6.0 innings and allowing three runs, one earned, on six hits with four strikeouts.
 
Jessica Seay tossed an inning in relief and struck out two.
 
Strawn connected on a pair of hits in the game and added an RBI, while five others each had one hits, including Smith who drove in a pair of runs on her second-inning homer.
 
In the finale the Tigers again struck first for a 2-0 lead on an RBI single in the top of the first inning.
 
Laramie Beal would drive in Jessica Simmons in the bottom of the first to cut the deficit in half.
 
OBU would add another run in the third to stretch its lead to 3-1, but Strawn would connect on her first homer of the season, a two-run shot that scored Simmons and knotted the game at 3-3.
 
Southeastern asserted its control in the bottom of the fourth as the first-four hitters of the inning reached base safely, followed by RBI singles from Simmons and Strawn to put the Storm up 5-3 with no outs and the bases still loaded.
 
Riddle would change that with a three-run triple that cleared the bases and opened up an 8-3 lead.
 
Riddle would score two batter later on a Jordyn James sac fly to right to make it 9-3.
 
OBU would get one back in the top of the sixth, but that would be it as the Storm pulled away with the 9-4 win.
 
Simmons and Strawn each collected three hits in the contest, while Riddle, Beal, Smith and Kalyn Ramber each added one.
 
Strawn and Riddle each also drove in three runs, while Simons, Beal and James added one RBI each.
 
Moore got the start in the circle but took a no decision after tossing 2.1 innings and allowing three runs on five hits with one strikeout.
 
Jessica Seay came on in relief and earned her first win of the year after throwing 4.2 innings and allowing a run on five hits while striking out two.