Schedule Adjusted As SE Wades Into GAC Play

Heavy rains in southeastern Oklahoma have forced No. 2 Southeastern and East Central to adjust their Great American Conference opening series. Friday's double-header has been moved back to Saturday in Ada, slated for a 1 p.m. first pitch.

The final two games originally scheduled as part double-header are currently on hold and have not yet been rescheduled.

The Savage Storm are itching to jump into conference play after its strong showing through the first three weeks of the season, posting a 14-3 record that included a sweep of its games at the NFCA Division II Leadoff Classic which helped the squad jump from unranked to No. 2 nationally.

SE will be putting an eight-game winning streak on the line when it takes the short trip north this weekend.

The Storm will be looking towards its pitching to help continue that streak, led by current NFCA National Pitcher of the Week and two-time GAC Pitcher of the Week Jacee Bennett.

Bennett has run up a 10-1 record thus far on the year with a 2.15 ERA in 65.0 innings pitched. She has racked up 69 strikeouts to just 22 walks and is holding hitters to a .206 batting average.

She is joined among SE pitching leaders by Mindy McElroy who has put together a 3-1 record with a 2.01 ERA in 45.1 innings pitched. McElroy took a perfect game into the seventh inning against Missouri-St. Louis and has held opponents to a .254 average.

Southeastern can also swing the bats when it needs to with a foursome of players batting better than .300 so far on the year.

That group is led by Jessica Simmons who has stepped into the leadoff spot and posted a .356 average with 16 runs scored and 14 stolen bases.

Courtney Moore is right behind with a .354 average, but has posted four home runs and a team-high 15 RBI.

Lacie Cook has come on strong since moving up in the order and is hitting .333 on the year, while Darrian Williams is batting .318 and has nine RBI.

Laramie Beal has chipped in a pair of homers and six RBI, while Whitney Hamilton has one home runs and 11 RBI.

The Tigers enter the series at 10-4 on the year, but are coming off a 3-2 weekend with a pair of losses to Midwestern State.

ECU will lean on its bats as the team has racked up a .371 team batting average, led by Ali Manship whois off to a .452 start with six home runs and 13 RBI.

Lauren Bancroft joins her over the .400 mark with a .419 average along with eight RBI.

Five other regular starters have averages over .300 on the season.

The Tiger pitching staff has divided its work evenly among three pitchers, with Manship leading the group with a 5-1 record, while Lacey Paulk has a 3-1 mark with a team-best 2.92 ERA.