SE Softball Completes Day One at DII First Pitch Invite

CONROE, Texas – Southeastern completed the first day of play at the DII First Pitch Invitational with defeats to No. 13 Angelo State and St. Mary's. The Savage Storm fell in game one of the day to the Rambelles 4-2 before seeing a 3-2 loss in the second contest to the Rattlers
 
SE (0-2) plays just one game tomorrow on day two of the invitational at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 31, against Texas A&M-International.
 
GAME ONE: No. 13 ASU 4, SE 2
The Storm and Rambelles were locked in a scoreless battle in the first two innings, as both starting pitchers navigated through the lineups. Emily Simmons would provide another zero from the circle in the top of the third, allowing the blue and gold bats to go to work again. Angelo State worked back-to-back outs in the bottom half of the third, but a blast from Tristan Hopkins sent a home run over the rightfield wall to give SE a 1-0 lead.
 
The nationally ranked Rambelles answered back in the fourth, using some two-out magic of their own to plate three runs and grab their first lead, 3-1. Southeastern looked to reply in the bottom half of the frame with the bases loaded, but ASU's Ashleigh Dendas worked through the traffic to keep the blue and gold from adding to their score. The Storm would threaten again in bottom of the fifth with runners on the corners, and again were unable to find the breakthrough hit.
 
SE and ASU remained locked at 3-1 through the fifth and sixth innings, and in the seventh, the Rambelles added to their lead, 4-1. Down to their final three outs, the Storm went to work in the bottom of the seventh, with Hopkins and Iliana Olivares reaching safely to begin the frame. On the next at-bat, E. Simmons roped a single into left field to score a run, with two runners on and no outs. However, the Storm's rally would fall short after three-straight outs ended the inning.
 
Southeastern had four players finish with two hits, led by Hopkins and E. Simmons, who each batted in a run. The Storm out hit the Rambelles 9-to-8 and had zero errors to ASU's three. E. Simmons started the game in the circle and went 3.2 innings with three runs allowed on six hits, while Alyson Malone closed out the final 3.1 innings.
 
GAME TWO: StMU 3, SE 2
SE was limited at the plate through the first three innings against the Rattlers, which allowed St. Mary's to take a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. After being held to one hit in the opening three frames, Southeastern got the bats going in the fourth with a home run by India McMurray over the right center field wall to tie the game. The Storm added to their score two innings later, at the top of the sixth, with another big fly, this time from Susan Edwards, to give SE a 2-1 advantage.
 
Through six innings, starting pitcher Trinity Oden struck out six batters and provided the blue and gold with five scoreless frames after the first inning. However, the Rattlers quickly had Southeastern under pressure in the bottom of the seventh, as StMU had runners on second and third, while down to its final out. The Rattlers would get a big hit from the fifth at-bat of the frame on a single roped to center field to plate two runs for the win.
 
Southeastern finished with six hits, paced by Edwards, who went 3-3 with one run scored and an RBI. Olivares recorded two hits, while McMurray rounded out the hits with one. Oden pitched 6.2 innings, registering six strikeouts and allowing two earned runs and three walks.