Savage Storm Set to Face Harding in Opening Round of GAC Tournament

DURANT, Okla. – With the conclusion of the regular season, Southeastern sets its sights on the 2025 GAC Tournament, where the Savage Storm will meet the No. 4 seed Harding Lady Bisons in Bentonville on Thursday, May 1. First pitch between SE and HU is set for 10:30 a.m. from the Tiger Athletic Complex.
 
SERIES NOTES

• In the regular season, Harding took the series over Southeastern 2-to-3 with the Storm salvaging a win in game three, 1-0. HU leads the all-time series 28-18 following its two wins.
• SE and Harding have met six times in the GAC Tournament, and have played each other to an even 3-3 record. The two sides met last year in the second round, with the Lady Bisons getting the better of the Storm. SE is 1-2 in the last three games against the Lady Bisons in the tournament, having last won in 2021. 

 
POSTSESAON GACTION
SE heads into the 2025 GAC Tournament as the fifth seed for the first time since joining the conference. In 10 appearances at the conference tournament, SE has compiled a 22-14 record with two GAC Tournament wins in 2013 and 2023. Last year, the blue and gold earned a 9-7 win over Arkansas-Monticello in the first round but later fell to Harding 6-1.
 
STORM WATCH
Southeastern closed out the season with a series against Ouachita Baptist, and the Savage Storm would take game one 7-3 before the Tigers roared back to win the next two. SE finished 26-26 overall with a 17-16 conference record, which secured them the fifth seed at the conference tournament. On the year, Southeastern picked up five GAC series wins, including two sweeps against Northwestern Oklahoma State and Arkansas-Monticello.
 
SE enters the postseason ranked seventh in team batting average and ERA, hitting .289 and carrying a 4.03 earned run average. The blue and gold have tallied the second-most home runs in the league this season, recording 42, and have the fourth-most doubles (75). Despite carrying the seventh-best ERA, SE ranks second in strikeouts with 306 and has the fourth-highest strikeout swinging numbers with 68.
 
The Storm lineup is led by a trio of hitters batting over .340, paced by Iliana Olivares with 61 hits on a .367 batting average. Olivares leads the league in doubles (19) and is closely followed by Sage Harlow with 13 two-base hits, while hitting .348 with 57 knocks. India McMurray is the biggest bat in the lineup, as she ranks second in the GAC with 14 home runs and is ninth with 37 RBIs.
 
Emily Simmons and Trinity Oden have spearheaded the pitching staff this season for the Storm, combining for 20 wins. Simmons, who leads the team in appearances, holds a 12-8 record with 109 strikeouts across 123.1 innings of work. Oden has seen 21 starts as a freshman and has an 8-4 record, tallying a team-high 110 strikeouts and a 3.36 ERA. Both have thrown a pair of complete-game shutouts, while Simmons leads the way with nine complete games.
 
PREVIEWING HARDING
No. 23 Harding is the victor of its last two games, winning the series against Northwestern Oklahoma State. The Lady Bisons finished the regular season with a 38-15 overall record and earned the fourth seed with a 21-12 conference mark. After opening the season red-hot, HU has cooled off in the final stretch of the campaign with one series win in its last four.
 
Leading the charge at the plate for the Lady Bisons is first baseman Zoey Neal, who leads the conference with 60 runs batted in on a .413 average with 69 hits. In addition, Neal paces the side in doubles (9) and home runs (8) and is slugging a team-high .611. Freshman Brooklyn Gobble leads the way in the circle with a 16-6 record and has picked up four saves across 150.1 innings of work. Gobble holds a 2.14 ERA with 163 strikeouts while giving up 46 earned runs.