Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern entered the final two weeks of the regular season needing to make a move to advance to the Great American Conference tournament, and on Saturday the Savage Storm showed they intended to make those moves by posting wins of 12-10 and 6-3 over Southwestern Oklahoma State at The Ballpark in Durant.
The wins lift SE to 22-17 overall on the season and 14-12 in GAC play with the final game of the series slated for a 1 p.m. first pitch on Sunday.
The wins, coupled with a Harding split against Ouachita Baptist on Saturday, means that the Storm are tied for the sixth spot in the GAC standings with the Bisons and would own the tiebreaker thanks to a 2-1 series victory that opened the month of March. Both teams have four games remaining on their conference schedule, including games on Sunday.
The series opener got off to a rough start and had things looking bleak after the Bulldogs opened with a four-run first inning and followed it up by retiring the first six Storm hitters.
Things started looking up in the third inning however, as
Trevor Bowen opened the inning with a walk followed by an
Aaron Chalk single.
Two batters later
Chevis Springer would draw a walk to load the bases and
Tucker Alexander would put the Storm on the board with an RBI single that scored Chalk and cut the deficit to 4-1.
That would not last long, however, as
Evan Ramsey stepped to the plate one batter later and smashed a three-run triple to the right-center gap to tie the game at 4-4.
SE was not done though as
Troy McCartney would get hit by a pitch and two batter later
Nick Grimmett would turn in a two-out, two-run double to put the Storm in front 6-4.
SWOSU got a run back thanks to an error in the fourth inning to trim SE's lead to one run.
Grimmett would strike again in the fifth inning, however, this time with a two-run home that also plated
Vance Woodruff and gave Southeastern an 8-5 advantage.
The Bulldogs added a run in the top of the sixth, but the Storm again had an answer.
SE would load the bases and Ramsey would draw and RBI walk which was followed by an RBI hit-by-pitch by McCartney that made the score 10-6.
Grimmett would then strike one more time with a two-run single that pushed the Storm edge to 12-6.
SWOSU would threaten in the seventh, scoring four runs on four hits, but
Cameron Mann would stop the bleeding by coaxing a pair of fly outs to end the threat and the Storm would hold on for the 12-10 victory.
Alexander and Grimmett each turned in three hit outings, while Springer and Chalk added a pair of hits apiece.
Grimmett posted six RBI in the contest, while Ramsey drove in four despite only collecting one hit.
Woodruff picked up his fourth win of the season by going six innings and allowing nine runs, eight earned, on 12 hits with six strikeouts.
Mann tossed the final three innings and earned an endurance save after allowing just one run on four hits with one K.
The nightcap featured less offense, but more drama.
SWOSU jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the third, but the Storm answered when Ramsey drew a bases loaded walk to cut the deficit to 2-1.
The Bulldogs, however, turned in a run in the top of the sixth to stretch the advantage to 3-1.
Southeastern bounced back in the bottom of the sixth with RBi singles by Springer and Alexander to knot the game at 3-3.
SE would get out of some trouble in the top of the seventh and opened the bottom half with a Ramsey hit by pitch.
He moved to second on a sac bunt by McCartney which was followed by a Grimmett single that left runners on the corners with one out.
Chalk then stepped to the plate and drove a ball over the right field wall to end the game and earn SE a double-header sweep with a 6-3 win.
Grimmett led the offense with a pair of hits, while Chalks' three RBI led the way in that category, while Springer, Alexander and Ramsey each added one.
Brandon Marris tossed a complete game, allowing three runs, all unearned, on four hits over seven innings with two strikeouts.
