Softball Tripped Up on the Road at East Central

ADA, Okla. – Southeastern had the tying run at the plate twice in the top of the seventh, but the Savage Storm's late rally fell short in the series finale at East Central 7-4 on Tuesday afternoon.
 
Emily Simmons led the lineup at the plate with a 3-for-3 day with four RBIs and a home run. In the circle, the sophomore got the start and went 3.2 with seven hits scattered for five runs and struck out four. Sage Harlow and Iliana Olivares had two hits each and a run scored, while the Savage Storm notched 11 hits as a team.  
 
Southeastern looked to scratch in the first run of the game during the top of the second with runners on the corners and two outs, but a flyout to center field would bring the inning to an end. In the bottom half, East Central tagged its first hit to take a 1-0 advantage with a leadoff home run and added to its lead in the next frame to make it 2-0.
 
Again, SE had a pair of runners on base in the fourth but struggled to find the breakthrough hit, as the blue and gold stranded both runners. ECU loaded the bases in the bottom half of the fourth and used back-to-back hits to score three more runs to stretch the lead to 5-0. However, SE quickly replied with a two-out rally in the fifth to cut the gap to 5-3.
 
The Storm had runners on the corners with two outs after Sabetha Sands reached on a fielder's choice, and Olivares singled to second base. On the fifth at-bat of the inning, Simmons got her second hit of the day, sending a three-run shot over the center field wall.
 
East Central answered back in the bottom of the sixth, scoring two runs on three hits to push its lead to 7-3. Down to its final three outs, Southeastern got an RBI single by Simmons to make it 7-4 before the Tigers worked a pair of flyouts for the final outs of the game and cut the Storm's rally short.  
 
Southeastern (24-22, 15-12) remains on the road as they head to Magnolia to face the league leaders, No. 9 Southern Arkansas, in a three-game series on April 18 and 19.