Storm Rally for 2-0 Start to Season

DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern needed late inning runs, including a seventh-inning rally to open the season 2-0 after downing Rockhurst 1-0 to open the day and finishing with a 6-5 victory over Eastern New Mexico at the Southeastern Regional Invitational on Friday.
 
The Savage Storm open the season 2-0 for the first time since the 2014 season and will be back in action at the event on Saturday with a 9:30 a.m. matchup with Central Missouri followed by a 2:30 p.m. contest with Missouri Southern State, both of which will be played at the Durant Multi-Sport Complex.
 
Friday's opener was a pitcher's duel as Emily Cudd collected the first complete-game shutout of the season after scattering four hits over 7.0 scoreless innings with no walks and three strikeouts.
 
Kennedy Salyers, Mykaela Wallace and Ashton Adkins each collected a hit.
 
Wallace's hit was a triple in the fifth inning, and one batter later Conner Harmon would groundout to shortstop to drive in the game's only RBI and ultimately seal a 1-0 SE win.
 
The nightcap was a different story as the SE offense was slow to get started and the pitching staff rolled through a trio of throwers.
 
The Storm collected seven hits, with Destiny Riddle posting a pair, with herself, Salyers and Marisa Fleck each doubling.
 
Riddle and Jordan James each drove in a pair of runs while Symphoni Shomo added one RBI.
 
Riddle got the start in the circle but was cut short after 3.0 innings of work in which she allowed five runs on six hits with a pair of strikeouts.
 
Hunter Offill allowed a hit in her two innings of work before Cudd came on to record three K's and allow two hits in two innings of work as well.
 
It was Cudd who benefitted from the bottom of the seventh rally as she moved to 2-0 with her second win of the day.
 
ENMU posted back-to-back homers in the first inning and would push its lead out to 5-0 after scoring in each of the first three innings.
 
SE would answer in the bottom of the fourth with a James two-run single that plated Fleck and Riddle to cut into the deficit and make it 5-2.
 
It was not until the bottom of the seventh before either team would find the offense again, starting with a pinch-hit walk drawn by Adkins and a pinch-hit single by Keeshia Thompson with one out, pushing Adkins to third.
 
Shomo would reach on a fielder's choice as Adkins would score to make it 5-3, but ENMU would record the second out of the inning.
 
That was followed by a Salyers double to leave runners at second and third before Riddle doubled both of them home to knot the game at 5-5.
 
Fleck would follow with a high flyball to left which looked to be the end of the inning and the beginning of extras, but the Greyhound's leftfielder misplayed the high popup and Riddle would score from second on the error to pick up the 6-5 win.