Softball Closes Long Road Swing at SAU

Softball | 3/27/2015 5:12:00 PM

DURANT, Okla.  – Southeastern will set out to snap a five-game losing streak when it returns to weekend conference play with a four-game series at Southern Arkansas March 28-29 in Magnolia, Ark., with Saturday's double-header set for a 2 p.m. start and Sunday's for a noon first pitch.
 
The Savage Storm come into the weekend with a 12-15 record on the season, but have lost five in-a-row since sweeping the last two games in a series from southern Nazarene on March 14.
 
Four of those losses were to nationally ranked out of conference foes Missouri Western State and Emporia State before East Central gave the SE the fifth in a midweek GAC matchup in which game two of a scheduled double-header was cancelled due to weather.
 
Despite the recent struggles the Storm are still tied for fourth in the league standings with a large portion of the league schedule still to play.
 
The SE offense continues to top the conference with a .340 average and led by a pair of .400 hitters in Courtney Riddle and Jessica Simmons who are each batting .417 which ranks in the league's top-10 individually.
 
Riddle leads the team in home runs and RBI with four and 25, respectively, while Simmons is tied for the most runs scored at 25 and the most steals with 12 despite missing five games in the starting lineup.
 
The next six hitters in the Storm lineup are hitting .300 or better, with eight total players with double-digit RBI totals and eight players with at least one home run.
 
The team's ups and downs have come through pitching and defense.
 
Jessica Seay's 5.19 ERA leads the team in that category, while Jacee Bennett has the team lead in wins with eight and strikeouts with 59.
 
The team's 5.99 staff ERA is last in the league, while its .927 fielding percentage is also at the bottom of the standings.
 
SAU comes into the weekend with a 15-11 record overall, but an 8-7 mark in GAC play.
 
The Muleriders picked up a pair of wins over Arkansas-Monticello midweek which snapped a four-game losing streak, all at the hands of Arkansas Tech.
 
SAU is fourth in the league offensively with a .314 average and seventh in pitching with a 4.18 ERA.
 
They are led by Ashton Atwell who is hitting .409 on the year with 10 home runs and 31 RBI.
 
Jami Godwin leads the staff in ERA at 2.41, while Miranda Cuff has a team-best six wins.