DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern Oklahoma State picks up a Monday sweep over Northeastern State in its home opener, winning 9-1 and 4-1.
SE exploded for eight runs in the second inning of game one to help the blue and gold to a 9-1 in five innings over the Riverhawks. The Savage Storm left it till the very end in game two for the win, as
Sage Harlow walked off NSU with a three-run home.
GAME ONE: SE 9, NSU 1
Southeastern took the lead in the bottom of the first thanks to a wild pitch from the Riverhawks that allowed
Sabetha Sands to score from third. Sands led off the frame with a double and moved up to third on a ground out before crossing home. The Storm soon broke things open in the second with an eight-run inning to extend its gap to 9-0.
SE's first two at-bats reached in the second, and a single by
Laci Larsen ripped to left field plated the pair of baserunners. Another base hit by Sands three batters later brought in the next two runs, and
Sage Harlow stepped up on the following at-bat and blasted a two-run home run to left field to make 7-0. Southeatern's seventh run of the inning came on a double steal before the final run of the fame was brought home by a single from the bat of
India McMurray to score
Jazzy Rios.
Starting pitcher
Emily Simmons held the Riverhakws to just one hit in the first three frames, but Northeastern State would add a run in the top of the fourth to make it 9-1. Simmons retired the side in order in the fifth, holding NSU to three hits for the game while striking out seven on her way to a fourth win in the circle.
GAME TWO: SE 4, NSU 1
The second game of Monday's doubleheader turned into a pitcher's duel between Southeastern's
Trinity Oden and NSU's Madison Heinle. Hits were hard to come by early for the Storm and Riverhawks, as both sides combined for two hits across four innings, with each side having one hit.
Things would change in the bottom of the fifth, with the Storm finally able to get the bats going, which led to the first run of the game. A two-out single by
Kennedy Morgan helped set up a 1-0 lead for Southeastern, with Sands lacing an RBI double off the center field wall to score Morgan from first.
From there, Oden continued to keep the Riverhakws locked up at the plate in the fifth and sixth, but the visitors soon found a breakthrough in the seventh to tie the game 1-1. Oden worked out of the jam with the help of a double play to strand a runner on second to keep it tied, heading to the bottom half of the seventh.
Southeastern was done to its final out in the bottom half with a runner, but a single by Morgan quickly put the pressure on the visitors with two on. On the fifth at-bat of the inning, Harlow belted her second home run of the day for a three-run shot to walk off Northeastern State 4-1 in the final game of the day.
Southeastern (7-6) now turns its attention to GAC play as they get set for its conference opener this weekend at Henderson State, starting with a doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 22, at noon.
