SE Athletics
DURANT – True freshman Abrianna Kennedy delivered the decisive hit for Southeastern in the bottom of the seventh to walk off Arkansas-Monticello 2-1 in game three to complete the weekend sweep.
Sports presented by Indian Nation Wholesale.
Kennedy and Susan Edwards led the team at the plate with two hits each, including a double, while SE totaled five hits for the game. Starting pitcher Bailey Kite went 4.0 frames and allowed one run on four hits with a season-high seven strikeouts. Emily Simmons pitched the final 3.0 frames and gave up zero hits and runs while punching out four batters to get her 12th win of the season.
Southeastern and UAM were locked in a scoreless battle through the first four innings, with Kite and Ronnie Johnson dueling in the circle. The Blossom applied early pressure, as SE had to work around some traffic on the basepath in the first and second frames, but Kite got out of the jam both times to strand five runners across the two innings.
The Storm were limited at the plate with one hit in four innings, with the first knock coming in the bottom of the third on a one-out double from Kennedy. However, UAM soon found a breakthrough in the top of the fifth, scoring one run on two hits to take a 1-0 lead.
The blue and gold were swift to answer back in the bottom half of the sixth, as Olivares rocketed a home run down the right-field line to tie the game one-all. Simmons, who came in for relief in the fifth, provided the Storm with two scoreless innings in the fifth and sixth and continued the trend in the seventh to put Southeastern in position to win the game.
In the seventh, SE got a leadoff double from Edwards, and a sacrifice bunt by Ryley Lance put the runner on third with one out. The Storm had runners on the corners with Kennedy stepping up to the plate after a walk by Simmons, and the freshman delivered a base hit down the right field line to score Edwards for the game-winning run, 2-1.
Southeastern (24-21, 15-11 GAC) heads to Ada for its next round of GAC action, as they take on East Central in the series finale on Tuesday, Apr. 15 at 2 p.m.