box score

DURANT, Okla. – The University of Texas of the Permian Basin softball team put up a good fight, but in the end, Southeastern Oklahoma came away with an 8-5 win over the Falcons in the first game of the South Central Tournament.

The Falcons opened the game with three runs in the top of the first when Courtney Cernoch hit the Falcons' first homer of the year, driving in Chelsey Morgan and Tieifa Dueberry. Morgan started the rally with a one-out single before Dueberry was hit by a pitch.

The tables were turned in the bottom of the inning as the Storm answered with a three-run homer of its own to tie the game at three. Southeastern tacked on a run in the third on an RBI single, but the lead wouldn't last long as UTPB answered in the fifth.

Erica Rangel was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning before Angel Castro joined in the long ball affair with a two-run shot to give the Falcons a 5-4 edge.

Like earlier in the game, UTPB did not get the chance to ride the momentum as the Storm answered with two runs in the bottom of the fifth on a two-run double. Two more runs in the bottom of the sixth iced the win for Southeastern.

The Falcons fell to 4-6 while Southeastern improved to 6-3 on the year. They will continue play tomorrow with games against Missouri Western and Nebraska-Omaha.