Softball Sweeps In-State Rival NSU

DURANT, Okla.  – Southeastern went on the road for its final non-conference matchup of the season and swept a pair of games from Northeastern State, taking game one 13-5 in six innings before holding on for a 7-6 win in the nightcap in Tahlequah, Okla., on Wednesday.
 
The wins lift the Savage Storm to 25-18 on the year heading into the final eight games of the season, the first four being a four-game Great American Conference series with Southwestern Oklahoma State April 17-18 in Weatherford, Okla., followed by the regular-season finale series against league-leading Henderson State April 24-25.
 
Sydney Kramer turned in a team-best three hits in the opener, but it was Laramie Beal who stole the show with a pair of homers and four RBI.
 
Jessica Simmons, Arianna Jones and Conner Harmon each added two hits as well, while Simmons, Kramer and Harmon each also drove in a pair.
 
Jessica Seay got the start and tossed 3.0 innings, allowing four runs on six hits with a pair of strikeouts before handing the ball to Ashley Moore who collected the win after tossing 3.0 innings of her own and allowing one unearned run on three hits.
 
Beal put the Storm on the board with a two-run homer in the top of the first inning, and they would add to that in the second, first on a two-run triple by Simmons and then on an RBI single by Kramer to open up a 5-0 lead.
 
The Riverhawks would rally to within 5-4 in the third inning, but a Kramer RBI single and a second two-run homer by Beal would expand the lead back to 8-4 midway through the fourth.
 
NSU would score a run in the bottom of the fourth, but a two-run Harmon homer in the fifth would give SE a 10-5 advantage.
 
Southeastern would then score three runs on errors in the top of the sixth and keep the home team off the board in the bottom half to earn the 13-5 run-rule victory.
 
Kramer continued with the hot bat in game two, adding three more hits, including a home run, along with three RBI.
 
Haley Strawn added a pair of hits, while Courtney Riddle, Beal and Breanna Smith each had one.
 
Beal and Harmon each added an RBI to the three by Kramer.
 
Jacee Bennett got the start, but lasted just one inning, allowing six runs on six hits with one strikeout before handing the ball to Seay who tossed 6.0 innings and scattered six hits with no runs alongside three K's.
 
Kramer opened scoring with a two-run homer as the second batter of the game to give the Storm a 2-0 first inning lead.
 
A Kramer RBI single, followed by Simmons scoring on a wild pitch and an RBI single by Beal would push the SE lead to 5-0 in the top of the second.
 
NSU would answer in the bottom half of the second with six runs to open up a 6-5 lead.
 
The Storm would finally find an answer in the fourth inning, tying the game on an RBI groundout by Harmon and taking the 7-6 lead that would hold to be the final score when Arianna Jones stole home immediately after.