SE Softball Splits With Emporia State

No. 2 Southeastern recovered from a rough opening contest on Saturday to earn a split on against No. 12 Emporia State, dropping the first game 11-2 before taking the nightcap 8-2 at the Southeastern Softball Field.

The split moves the Savage Storm to 15-4 overall on the season.

A quick schedule change left SE playing Emporia State when rival East Central was unable to get its field playable for the scheduled Great American Conference opener this weekend.

Southeastern got its bats going in game two, with Jessica Simmons, Lacie Cook and Courtney Riddle each picking up a pair of hits, while the team tallied 12 combined.

Riddle, Laramie Beal and Lauren Renneker each drove in a pair of runs, while Whitney Hamilton and Rachel Jones added an RBI apiece.

Mindy McElroy picked up her fourth win of the year with a complete game performance, allowing a pair of runs on seven hits with one strikeout and no walks.

The Storm got on the board first with a pinch-hit two-run double by Beal to center that plated Simmons and a pinch-running Dakota Palmer.

ESU cut the lead in half with an RBI single by Tricia Vogel in the top of the sixth.

SE answered in a big way, first with Hamilton knocking home a run to make it 3-1.

That was followed by a Riddle RBI double that scored two runs, a Jones double that plated Riddle and a two-run homer by Renneker that put SE out to an 8-1 lead.

The Hornets would get a solo homer in the top of the seventh, but SE would pick up the 8-2 win.

Game one did not fare as well for the home team, as it was ESU that racked up 12 hits, while the Storm collected just five.

Jones had two of the five, while Simmons, Jacee Bennett and Paige Priest each added one.

In the circle, Bennet suffered her worst outing of the year, allowing six runs, three of which were earned, on seven hits with two strikeouts in five innings of work.

Shayna Milam tossed two innings in relief and allowed five runs on five hits with one K.

ESU posted two solo homers in the first and another in the second to take a 3-0 lead.

They would double that advantage with three unearned errors in the fourth inning.

The Storm would answer with RBI singles by Jones and Simmons in the bottom of the fourth, but the Hornets would add a two-run homer in the fifth and a three-run shot in the sixth to pick up the 11-2 win.