Storm Drop Twin Bill to Arkansas Tech

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Southeastern drops the first two games of the series against Arkansas Tech in Russellville, falling 4-3 in game one and 4-0 in the second contest of the day.
 
The Savage Storm (12-15, 6-5 GAC) closes out the series at ATU on Saturday, March 14, at noon from the Chartwells Women's Sports Complex.
 
GAME ONE: ATU 4, SE 3
The Storm opened the scoring in the bottom of the first, sending three batters to the plate to take a 1-0 lead. Lorryn Johnson was hit by a pitch from the leadoff spot, and after being moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt, Susan Edwards roped a double to center field to score Johnson.
 
Emily Simmons started game one in the circle and allowed one baserunner through the first two innings, but was soon under pressure in the third. ATU chained together three hits in the bottom of the third to plate two runs and would later extend its lead to 3-1 in the fourth, scoring a run after a pair of SE errors.
 
Southeastern soon got the bats going again in the top of the seventh, and would use three-straight hits to score two runs to tie the game 3-3. Iliana Olivares and Edwards recorded back-to-back singles before Anley Hewitt pinch hit and knocked a base-clearing double into left centerfield to score the pair of baserunners and help send the game to extra innings.
 
SE would be held scoreless in the top of the eighth, and the Golden Sun bats began to go to work in the bottom half. ATU had runners on second and third with one out, and the breakthrough hit eventually came, as they won 4-3 on a walk-off single.
 
The Storm scattered nine hits across the game, led by Edwards, Olivares, and India McMurray with two hits each. E. Simmons (4-5) twirled all 7.1 innings and allowed four runs (two earned) on seven hits and had two strikeouts.
 
GAME TWO: ATU 4, SE 0
The Golden Suns struck first, taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom half of the first. SE struggled to get going at the plate, recording two hits through four innings, but would see a pair of baserunners in the fourth after a hit and an error. However, both runners would be stranded after back-to-back outs.
 
SE soon fell behind 4-0 to Arkansas Tech in the bottom of the fifth, as ATU sent eight to the plate during the frame and scored three runs on a hit and an error. The Storm looked to pull a run back in the top of the sixth with runners on second and third after a double from McMurray, but a lineout would end the blue and gold threats.
 
Southeastern in the seventh, notched its second double of the game this time from Tally Rowland, as the Storm had a pair of runners on. The final out for SE would come, as the blue and gold finished 0-6 with runners in scoring position in a 4-0 defeat to Tech.
 
Hewitt paced the Storm with two of the team's six hits, but SE would commit two errors that led to two runs. Trinity Oden (3-6) got the start in game two and pitched 4.1 frames with four runs allowed on three hits, while Alyson Malone closed out the final 1.2 innings.