SE Athletics
MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Southeastern Oklahoma State splits the Friday doubleheader with No. 9 Southern Arkansas after taking game one 4-0. The Muleriders came storming back in game two to even the series 1-1 with an 11-7 win.
Sports presented by Indian Nation Wholesale.
Trinity Oden and Emily Simmons were the stars of game one, as Oden pitched a complete game shutout with four strikeouts, while Simmons tallied two home runs. India McMurray had a pair of homers across the two games, including a grand slam in the second game to finish 3-for-5 with five RBIs.
Southeastern (25-23, 16-13 GAC) and No. 9 Southern Arkansas will play a rubber match tomorrow at 1 p.m. from the Margaret Downing Softball Complex.
GAME ONE: SE 4, SAU 0
The Storm struck early in game one, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the second off a solo home run from McMurray. The junior’s home run marked the second big fly given up by SAU’s starting pitcher Brinson Rogers this season, and it would not be the last one in this game.
Helping with the fast start, Trinity Oden provided three scoreless innings from the circle, heading into the fourth. This allowed the blue and gold to add to its lead in the top half of the fourth with another home run, this time from Emily Simmons, to stretch the edge to 2-0. Oden remained locked in, giving up just one hit in the fourth and fifth to keep the Muleriders off the scoreboard.
Simmons continued her hot day at the plate, adding to the Storm’s lead in the sixth with a two-run big fly after Iliana Olivares worked a walk to push the lead to 4-0. SAU was limited to two more hits across the sixth and seventh, as Oden picked up the win with a complete game shutout to move to 7-4 on the year.
GAME TWO: SAU 11, SE 7
The bats were swinging early in game two for Southeastern, as the Storm used four straight hits, including a double from Olivares, to take a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. Later in the frame, SE loaded the bases, and a grand slam by McMurray extended the gap to 6-0 to force a pitching change from the Muleriders. SAU would reply in the bottom half with two runs to cut into the lead, 6-2.
After an eight-run opening inning, the game settled down in the second, but the Muleriders added another run in the third and later in the fifth to cut the Storm’s lead to two, 6-4. The momentum stayed with Southern Arkansas, who showed why they are the No. 9 team in the nation, building a seven-run inning in the sixth to grab the lead 11-7.
The Muleriders turned to their ace, Rogers, to start the top of the seventh to get the final three outs and she did just that to secure the win and split the doubleheader and force a rubber match.
