Softball Postseason Run Comes to an End

BENTONVILLE, Ark.  – For the first time since the formation of the Great American Conference, Southeastern will not be playing in the softball tournament's championship game after falling in a pitcher's duel to Arkansas Tech on Friday night after opening the day with an 8-3 win over Harding in Bentonville, Ark.
 
The Savage Storm will finish the season with a 32-23 record after splitting a pair of games on Friday.
 
In the first three seasons of the tournament SE had advanced to the championship game, including the inaugural event in 2012 when it won three games on Friday to reach Saturday's final, but that streak comes to an end despite a valiant effort.
 
The Storm opened the day with Jessica Simmons taking the first pitch of the ball game out of the park for her first homer of the season for a 1-0 lead.
 
She doubled that score in the second with a double to the third baseman in the second which plated Arianna Jones.
 
HU would cut into that score with a run in the third, but a Sydney Kramer sac fly and an RBI fielder's choice by Courtney Riddle would push the edge out to 4-1.
 
The Bisons would get their second homer of the day in the fifth inning to close the gap to 4-2, but Simmons would drive in her third run of the game with a single up the middle that drove in Darrian Williams for a 5-2 lead.
 
HU would pick up one more run in the sixth to close to 5-3, but Jacee Bennett, Conner Harmon and Kramer would each connect on RBI singles in the top of the seventh to stretch the lead to 8-3 which would hold to be the final.
 
Simmons, Jones and Williams each posted three hits in the contest as the Storm turned in 14 as a team.
 
Simmons would drive in three, while Kramer added a pair of runs driven in and the trio of Riddle, Bennett and Harmon each plated one.
 
Jessica Seay collected her 16^th win of the season after tossing 6.2 innings and allowing three runs on six hits with five strikeouts.
 
Bennett faced one batter in relief and recorded an out.
 
In the second game of the day, SE faced a team in ATU which had combined with the Storm to score 85 runs over four games when the teams met and split a four-game series during the regular season.
 
It was a different story entirely on Friday as the teams combined for just three runs and nine hits in the game.
 
SE took a 1-0 lead on a Laramie Beal single in the top of the third, but the Golden Suns took advantage of a Storm error in the bottom of the third to even the game at 1-1.
 
ATU would pick up another run in the fifth and that would be all the scoring in the game with the final being 2-1.
 
Seay was handed the loss after tossing 4.1 innings and allowing two runs, one earned, on six hits with one strikeout.
 
Bennett added 1.2 innings in relief and allowed just one baserunner with one strikeout.
 
Riddle, Beal and Strawn each collected a hit in the game, with Beal driving in the team's only run.