ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Southeastern opens its three-game series at Ouachita Baptist with a 4-3 win over the Tigers on Friday evening, and clinched its spot to the 2026 GAC Tournament with the victory.
The Savage Storm outhit Ouachita 10-to-7 and had four players with multiple hits, led by
Tristan Hopkins with a 3-for-4 game at the plate.
Iliana Olivares,
Tally Rowland, and
McKenna Simmons each had two hits, while T. Rowland had two RBIs, and M. Simmons had two runs scored and a run driven in.
Emily Simmons got the start in the circle and pitched 5.0 innings, recording a season-high nine strikeouts and allowing three runs on six hits to earn her eighth win this season.
Alyson Malone picked up her second save, tossing the final two frames with one hit allowed.
SE was inches away from opening the scoring in the top of the second, but the Tigers robbed a Storm home run on the third out of the frame. Ouachita, after the big play defensively, took the lead on the first at-bat of the bottom of the second on a solo home run for a 1-0 advantage. However, the blue and gold would not trail long, sending seven batters to the plate in the third, scoring two runs to go ahead 2-1.
The Storm had runners on first and second with two outs after M. Simmons led off the frame with a single. Olivares recorded the third hit of the inning on a single knocked into centerfield to plate the first run, and on the next at-bat, T. Rowland drove in the next run on a base hit ripped down the left field line.
After giving up the solo home run in the second, E. Simmons settled in the circle and delivered back-to-back scoreless innings in the third and fourth, striking out four and stranding a runner in the third. E. Simmons allowed the Storm to add to their lead with a solo home run by M. Simmons in the fourth and an RBI double by T. Rowland in the fifth to stretch the lead to 4-1.
The Tigers would claw back two runs in the bottom of the fifth and put pressure on SE in the sixth with two runners on and no outs. The Storm turned to Malone, who entered the circle in relief for E. Simmons and navigated the traffic to get three outs, including a double play. Malone continued to have the Tiger bats locked down in the seventh, getting the side to retire in order to secure the win for SE.
Southeastern (21-27, 13-17 GAC) concludes the series with Ouahcita Baptist with a chance to clinch the series in game one of tomorrow's doubleheader, starting at noon.
