SE Downs Bisons 10-9 in Eighth-inning Walk-Off

DURANT, Okla. – For the second-straight day, Emily Simmons provided the game-winning fireworks, connecting on a two-run single in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift Southeastern to a 10-9 victory over Harding in the series opener Friday afternoon at the Southeastern softball Field.
 
The win lifts the Savage Storm to 23-19 overall on the season and 15-10 in Great American Conference play with the final two games of the series et for Saturday afternoon beginning at noon.
 
Sabetha Sands led the offense with a trio of hits while adding an RBI.
 
Gracie Ore, Sage Harlow, Kady Fryrear, Simmons, and Sammi Dutton each added two hits, while Ananda Garrison, Bailey Beard, and Kamryn Rackley had one each.
 
Harlow, Simmon, and Garrison each homered in the game, while Ore, Fryrear, and Sands added doubles.
 
Simmons would finish with a team-high three RBI, with Harlow, Fryrear, and Harrison driving in two apiece. Sands would add one RBI.
 
Amberlyn Walsworth got the start and took a no decision after tossing four innings and allowing five runs on eight hits with one strikeout.
 
Reese Taylor would follow with two innings in relief, allowing three runs on four hits with one strikeout.
 
Alyson Malone would finish the contest, allowing one unearned run on one hit with two strikeouts in two innings of work to pick up the win.
 
Harding got on the board in the top of the first with a three-run home run to mount a 3-0 lead.
 
The Storm got a run back in the third on a Harlow RBI single through the left side, cutting the gap to 3-1.
 
The Bisons would extend their lead in the top pf the fifth with back-to-back solo homers, pushing their lead to 5-1.
 
Southeastern would answer in the bottom half of the fifth inning, first with a two-run double from Fryrear followed by an RBI single from Sands to close the deficit to 5-4.
 
HU would put up three runs in the top of the sixth, first on a wild pitch and two more on a home run to take an 8-4 lead midway through six innings.
 
Harlow would leadoff the bottom of the seventh inning with a solo homer, and two batters later Simmons would repeat the feat to close the deficit to 8-6.
 
Sand would follow with a double to right center and a batter later it was Garrison's two-run homer to left that knotted the game at 8-8 and forced extra innings.
 
HU would take advantage of an inning-opening error in the eighth, eventually loading the bases before a pinch-hit infield single would give the Bisons a 9-8 lead heading to the bottom of the eighth.
 
Ore would lead off the bottom half of the inning with a single and two batters later Fryrear would single through the left side.
 
Both runners would move up on a wild pitch before Simmons drove a single into the right-center gap to plate Ore and Fryrear for the tying and winning runs, taking the game by a 10-9 final.