Softball Splits with SAU on Thursday

DURANT, Okla. – Emily Simmons and Reese Taylor each blasted three-run homers to help Southeastern to a split on Thursday afternoon versus Southern Arkansas, dropping game one 4-2 before bouncing back with a 7-3 win in the nightcap at the Southeastern Softball Field.
 
The Savage Storm move to 24-27 overall on the season and 16-16 in Great American Conference play with the final game of the series set for 1 p.m. on Friday afternoon and will be senior day for nine SE players playing in their final home game.
 
Simmons led the way in game two with three hits, one of them a three-run homer, driving in three total runs.
 
Taylor added two hits with a three-run homer of her own to finish with three RBI.
 
Gracie Ore, Kady Fryrear, Kasey Simmons, and Bailey Beard each added a hit, with Ore chipping in an RBI.
 
Taylor got the start in the circle and picked up the win, allowing three runs on seven hits over 4.2 innings.
 
Emily Simmons picked up the save, her first of the year. Tossing 2.1 innings of scoreless softball with three strikeouts.
 
Emily Simmons got game two moving with a three-run homer to left center in the bottom of the first inning, giving the Storm a 3-0 lead.
 
The Storm would threaten again in the second and the third, leaving the bases loaded both times without scoring.
 
SE would break through in the fourth again, taking advantage of a pair of walks which set the table for Taylor who connected on a three-run homer to double the lead to 6-0 after four innings.
 
SAU would connect on a three-run homer of its own in the top of the fifth, but Gracie Ore would tack on an insurance run with an RBI single in the bottom half of the fifth, extending the lead to 7-3 which would hold up as the final.
 
To start the day, Ore finished 3-for-4 with an RBI to lead the Storm hitters in game one.
 
Sage Harlow, Kady Fryrear, Emily Simmons, and Channing Sarver each picked up hits, with Simmons adding an RBI on her solo homer.
 
Simmons would also toss a complete game, allowing four runs, three of them earned, on five hits while striking out 10 over seven innings of work.
 
SAU jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a pair of solo homers in the top of the second, but the Storm would get one back with a solo shot from Simmons in the bottom half to close to 2-1.
 
The Muleriders tacked on another home run in the third and pushed the lead to 4-1 in the top of the fifth, taking advantage of a controversial decision to call a runner safe at second after initially ruling her out, leaving her on base to score on an RBI single a batter later.
 
Ore would bring home a run in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI double to the center field wall, plating Harlow and closing the gap to 4-2.
 
SE would put a pair of runners on in the bottom of the seventh, bringing the winning run to the plate, but was unable to capitalize, leaving the final 4-2.