DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern splits the series opener on Friday afternoon with Henderson State, winning game one 6-3, followed by a 3-2 loss in the second contest.
Lorryn Johnson finished the day perfect at the plate, going 5-5 with two runs driven in and one run scored.
Iliana Olivares racked up four hits across the 14 innings of play, as the Savage Storm recorded 16 total hits in the two contests.
Southeastern (6-10, 1-1) and Henderson complete the series tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 21, at 11 a.m. in the winner-takes-all game.
GAME ONE: SE 6, HSU 3
Game one opened with a scoreless first for both sides, but SE soon dialed in HSU's Lacey Kelley to score three runs in the bottom of the second. Johnson got the frame started with a leadoff single, before
McKenna Simmons doubled and
Serenity Oden walked to load the bases with one out.
Susan Edwards brought in the first run on a sacrifice hit, and two more runs scored off a Henderson State error in the outfield on the next at-bat to make it 3-0.
The Storm continued to add to their lead in the fourth, plating three more runs on five hits to balloon their lead to 6-0. Following three straight singles with one out,
Kasey Simmons sent a hit into left field to score the first run, 4-0. On the next at-bat, Johnson knocked a base hit into left-center to plate the next two runs, 6-0.
However, after being held in check through the first five innings by starting pitcher E. Simmons, who allowed three hits during this stretch, HSU began to go to work. In the top of the sixth, the Reddies scored two runs on a two-run home run and later scored a third run in the top of the seventh. HSU had the tying run at the plate twice in the seventh, but E. Simmons navigated through the traffic to close the door on the visitors.
E. Simmons earned her second win in the circle, pitching a complete game with three strikeouts and three runs allowed on eight hits. Johnson went 3-3 at the plate with two runs driven in and a run scored.
Iliana Olivares recorded two hits, and the Storm would finish with nine for the game.
GAME TWO: HSU 3, SE 2
The Storm and Reddies traded two runs in the first and second, tied at 2-2. HSU used a pair of doubles and an error to score two runs in the first, but SE answered back in the second with a run on a squeeze play from a sacrifice bunt by
Channing Sarver and an RBI ground out by Tristian Hopkins.
Both starting pitchers settled into the game after the flurry of runs in the first and second, posting zeros in the third and fourth, 2-2. HSU had a loud at-bat in the fifth to break the deadlock with a solo home run to go ahead 3-2. Southeastern looked to pull a run back in the final three frames, with a runner reaching in the fifth, sixth and seventh, but the blue and gold could not find the deciding hit.
Olivares and Johnson led the lineup with two hits each, while
Laci Larsen reached safely twice on walks.
Trinity Oden fell to 2-4 on the year in the circle with 7.0 innings pitched, four strikeouts, and three runs surrendered on seven hits.
