DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern Oklahoma State falls to Arkansas Tech in Saturday's GAC doubleheader. The Savage Storm and Golden Suns dueled it out in the circle in game one, and ATU used late runs to take the series opener 4-1. SE saw Arkansas Tech explode for eight runs in game two, as the blue and gold dropped the second game of Saturday's twin bill 8-2.
Sage Harlow led the Storm over the two games with two hits and a run scored, while the team totaled eight knocks for the day.
Emily Simmons fell to 8-4 this season in the circle after pitching 6.1 innings in game one with four strikeouts and four runs allowed on seven hits.
Jazzy Rios had a home run in game one, while
Susan Edwards and
India McMurray each batted in a run in the second contest.
Southeastern (13-13, 6-7 GAC) concludes its three-game series with Arkansas Tech at noon on Sunday, Mar. 16, from the Southeastern Softball Field.
GAME ONE: ATU 4, SE 1
Runs were hard to come by early in game one as the pitching duel between SE's
Emily Simmons and ATU's Alexis Findley produced four straight scoreless frames to start the game. The Golden Suns threatened to break things open in the top of the first with the bases loaded, but Simmons would work out of the jam to strand the runners.
The Storm struggled at the plate against the Golden Suns starting pitcher, who limited the blue and gold to two hits in the first five innings. Meanwhile, Arkansas Tech would take the lead in the top of the fifth, scoring two runs on the three hits.
In the top of the seventh, the visitors provided some insurance, stretching their lead to 4-0 with another pair of runs. SE would pull a score back with a solo shot in the bottom half with a home run by
Jazzy Rios, but ATU would limit SE to just the one run to secure the win, 4-1.
GAME TWO: ATU 8, SE 2
Southeastern and Arkansas Tech traded blows in the first inning of the second game, with SE leading 2-1. The Golden Suns used back-to-back doubles to score their first run, but the Storm quickly responded in the bottom half to take the lead. SE had the bases loaded with one out and took advantage of an error by ATU's shortstop to scratch in the first run. On the following at-bat,
Susan Edwards ripped a single through the right side to score the next run, 2-1.
Arkansas Tech replied with a solo home run in the next frame to tie the game 2-all. From there, the Southeastern bats cooled off after a three-hit first inning, which allowed the Golden Suns to build a 5-2 lead over the next three frames. SE looked to cut the deficit in the bottom of the fifth with a runner on second and no outs but were unable to advance the runner any farther before the final out. ATU added two more runs to its score in the top of the sixth to extend the gap to 8-2.
