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Southeastern player Kady Fryrear is about to hit the ball. Matt Swearengin | Durant Democrat
Southeastern’s baseball and softball teams each found the going rough against Harding University in conference action over the weekend with the softball team notching the only win in six games with a wild 10-9 extra inning verdict on Friday.
That followed up a pivotal 5-3 decision against arch-rival East Central that left the Savage Storm women in the thick of the race to qualify for the Great American Conference Tournament.
In the Harding victory, Coach Mackenzie Sher’s club put together a huge late rally from an 8-4 seventh inning deficit.
Down to their final three outs, the Savage Storm got the comeback rolling with a Sage Harlow solo home run over the leftfield wall. One out later, Emily Simmons blasted a pinch-hit solo homer as well to narrow the gap to two runs.
Sabetha Sands greeted the Harding relief pitcher with a double and Ananda Garrison followed with the third roundtripper of the frame to force extra innings.
The visitors went back in front with a tally in the top of the eighth before a final flurry of hits with singles by Gracie Ore and Kady Fryrear ahead of a walk off single by Simmons to send both home.
Alyson Malone recorded the pitching win in two innings of relief, yielding one unearned run on one hit with a pair of strikeouts.
Things didn’t go as well in the final two games of the series as Southeastern managed just three total runs in the final 14 innings.
It was late-game heroics that spurred the Savage Storm in the East Central win as well as they trailed 1-0 in the sixth stanza.
Four consecutive singles from Garrison, Sands, Sammi Dutton and Kamryn Rackley produced three runs in the bottom of inning six to put Southeastern in front briefly.
East Central countered with a pair in the seventh tie the score, setting the stage for the finish as Fryrear coaxed a walk and Simmons blasted a home run over the centerfield wall to set off the celebration.
The Savage Storm currently sit fifth in the league standings with a 15-12 record and looking for just one win in their final six conference contests to wrap up a trip to the postseason tournament.
Southeastern visits Arkansas Tech this weekend before closing with a home series against Southern Arkansas.