BETHANY, Okla.—A wild ending in Friday afternoon's double-header between Southern Nazarene and Southeastern Oklahoma State led to a split after Southeastern took game one 10-3, before SNU earned a 6-5 come-from-behind victory in the final game of the series.
Game 1:
After a very low scoring game yesterday, both offenses got hot early. Each team scored in each of the first three innings, but it was Southeastern's multiple run innings that proved to be the difference. SNU scored one run in the first, second, and third innings, but the Savage Storm tallied two in the first, one in the second, two in the third, and three in the fourth to build a sizable lead. They added two more insurance runs in the seventh inning.
The teams combined for just seven hits in Thursday's contest, but totaled 19 in game one on Friday. The hits came early as both teams notched three hits in the first inning. Southeastern's three hits resulted in a pair of runs, while SNU could only capture one run on a sacrifice fly by Natalie Jones.
After Southeastern extended their lead to 3-1 in the second inning, Southern Nazarene got one run back on a Kennedy Sherer RBI single.
The Savage Storm pushd the lead out to three runs in the third inning after ripping a two-out single to right field that scored two runs.
Once again SNU tacked on a run in the bottom of the third when Natalie Jones led off the inning with a single, followed by an Emma Swearingen run-scoring double. Unfortunately for SNU, that was the end of their scoring after a groundout and back-to-back strikeouts left Swearingen stranded at second base. Southeastern broke the game open with three runs in the fourth and a pair of runs in the seventh.
Natalie Jones and Kennedy Sherer each picked up two hits and an RBI in the game with Jones notching a double.
Game 2:
Southern Nazarene trailed throughout most of the game in game two, but they came roaring back in the sixth inning when Hailey Evans blasted a three-run homer in the sixth that turned a 5-3 deficit into a 6-5 lead. Some great defense in the seventh inning preserved the lead and gave the Crimson Storm the series finale victory.
Southeastern outhit Southern Nazarene 12 to 6 in the game, but the Crimson Storm came away with the timely hits to earn the win.
Southeastern took a 2-0 lead in the top half of the first inning, but SNU quickly responded with a three-spot in the bottom half of the inning to jump in front. Sydney Sundbye led off with a single and moved up to second following a Kennedy Sherer walk. Both Sundbye and Sherer came around to score after a Southeastern error. It turned out, they likely would have scored regardless as later in the inning Emma Swearingen launched a ball over the left field wall, pushing SNU in front 3-2.
The lead was short-lived though, as Southeastern put up one run in the second inning and one run in the third inning to jump ahead 4-3. That lead held throughout the middle innings as SNU was hitless from the second inning through the fifth innings.
An inning-extending error in the sixth inning allowed the Savage Storm to push their lead to 5-3, but the SNU offense woke up in the sixth and used Hailey Evans' huge three-run home run to regain the lead.
Leading 6-5 heading into the seventh, SNU kept Katelyn Woodard in the game. She pitched phenomenally in relief as she went five innings, allowing just one unearned run and striking out four batters. Woodard forced a weak popout to the first batter, but with one out, a single to center field put the tying run on base. A fielder's choice back to Woodard kept one runner on first and pushed SNU to one out away from the win. It was not easy from there, though, as another single pushd the tying run into scoring position at second base.
Usually, a base hit scores a runner at second base, but that was not the case on Friday. Southeastern laced one up the middle to Sydney Sundbye. The runner made her way to third and they sent her home, testing Sundbye's arm. Southeastern would wish they had not tested her arm as Sundbye placed a laser right into McKayla Franks' glove at home. Franks applied the tag to the slider runner. The ump signaled out and SNU walked away with the 6-5 win.
Emma Swearingen finished with her second multi-hit game of the day.
Hailey Evans' home run was her GAC leading 10th home run of the season.
SNU will hope to ride the momentum of a wild win in the series finale into Tuesday as the Crimson Storm host Oklahoma Baptist. The Bison swept SNU in a double-header in Shawnee earlier this season, winning both games by just two runs. Oklahoma Baptist currently sits atop the Great American Conference standings and ranks No. 22 in all of DII. Southern Nazarene is in eighth place in the GAC standings as they continue to work towards earning a spot in the GAC Championship tournament.
