Simmons Walk-Off Lifts SE to Win Over Tigers

DURANT, Okla. – Emily Simmons would help her own cause by connecting on a walk-off two run blast to lift Southeastern to a 5-3 win over East Central to polish off a series sweep on Thursday afternoon at the Southeastern Softball Field.
 
The win lifts the Savage Storm to 22-19 overall on the season and 14-10 in Great American Conference play as the team will immediately jump into another conference series versus Harding beginning on April 12 at 2 p.m. back at the SE Softball Field.
 
Simmons, Sammi Dutton, and Kamryn Rackley each logged two hits, with Simmons driving in a pair of runs on her game-winning home run, while Dutton and Rackley each added an RBI.
 
Sage Harlow, Kady Fryrear, Iliana Olivares, Ananda Garrison, and Sabetha Sands each added a hit.
 
Simmons got the start and tossed a complete game, allowing three runs, two earned, on six hits over seven innings with eight strikeouts to pick up her eighth win of the year.
 
ECU would score the first run of the game on an RBI double in the fourth inning.
 
That 1-0 lead would hold up till the bottom of the sixth, beginning with a Dutton RBI single to score Simmons to tie the game at 1-1.
 
A batter later, Rackley would drive in Ananda Garrison to out the Storm in front 2-1 and one batter past that Ore would fly out to right field, but an errant throw would allow Sands to score and put the Storm I front 3-1.
 
The Tigers would respond in the top of the seventh with a solo homer and an RBI single to knot the game at 3-3.
 
Fryrear would open the bottom of the seventh by drawing a walk before Simmons connected on a  homer of the centerfield wall to lift the Storm to a 5-3 victory.