Baseball Splits at TAMIU On Opening Day

LAREDO, Texas – After opening the season with a 4-2 victory in extra-innings over Texas A&M-International in game one of a double-header, Southeastern was unable to carry that momentum into game two where it dropped a 1-0 decision on Friday afternoon in Laredo, Texas.
 
The rubber match for the series is slated for a noon first pitch on Jan. 31.
 
Brady Colbert tossed the final two innings of the opener to earn the win after allowing no runs on two hits with three strikeouts.
 
Dylan Linke got the start and tossed 5.2 solid innings, allowing a pair of unearned runs on two hits with five K's.
 
Mathew Benedict would close out the sixth inning for the Storm and record one-third of an inning while allowing a pair of hits.
 
Southeastern collected six hits in the contest, with Connor Counce having the only multi-hit outing by going 2-for-2.
 
Cody Coats, Collin Sefcik, Brandon Grimsley and Corban Taylor each had a hit, while Coats drove in a pair of runs and the duo of Grimsley and Taylor each had one RBI.
 
Brayon Colley did not collect a hit, but reached base twice, collecting three stolen bases on thiose trips and scoring two of the team's four runs.
 
The Storm would post five steals in the game as a team.
 
SE struck first with Colley walking to open the game before swiping second and third, each with one out.
 
Coats would then double him home for the season's first run.
 
The Storm would strike again in the third inning, this time with Colley reaching on an error to open the inning and advancing to second.
 
He would move to third on a Jacob Soisson sac bunt and Coats would bring him home on a fielder's choice for a 2-0 advantage.
 
Linke would keep the Dustdevils under control until the sixth inning when he allowed a leadoff single.
 
That run would come around to score with two outs thanks to an error leading to Benedict coming into the game.
 
He would allow back-to-back singles which brought home the game tying run before recording the inning's final out.
 
Neither team would score in the seventh to send the game to extra innings.
 
In the top half Sefcik would reach on a one-out single and steal second, scoring one batter later on a Grimsley single to center to go up 3-2.
 
Grimsley would move to second on the throw following the run and get to third on a Logan Terwilliger ground out before a pinch-hitting Taylor would single him home to push the lead to 4-2.
 
The bottom half of the inning was not without its drama as TAMIU led off with a single and two batters later another single would leave runners at first and third.
 
Colbert would work out of trouble by striking out the next batter before getting the final batter to ground into a fielder's choice with the runner heading to second as the final out.
 
The Storm matched the Dustdevils with four hits in game two, led by Kaleb Thomas who had two, while Coats and Dylan Helms each added one.
 
Nick Johnson got the start and was saddled with the loss after tossing a complete game and allowing one run on four hits with three strikeouts.
 
SE had runners thrown out at the plate in back-to-back innings, first in the second inning when Helms doubled to left-center, but Terwilliger was thrown out at the plate for the final out of the inning.  The second ended the third inning when Thomas was thrown out trying to score on a Coats single.
 
The game's lone run came with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning when TAMIU cashed in on a leadoff single, scoring with two outs on an infield single.