SE Splits Saturday Twinbill at ATU

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark.  – A Kaleb Thomas solo homer in the top of the eighth inning of the series finale lifted the Savage Storm to a 6-5 win to preserve a Saturday split with Arkansas Tech after dropping game one of the day 11-8 in Russellville, Ark.
 
The split moves the Savage Storm to 10-12 overall on the season and 6-7 in Great American Conference play heading into an out-of-conference showdown with Texas A&M-International at The Ballpark in Durant on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.
 
The win also snapped a three-game losing streak, including back-to-back losses in the final at bats against the Wonder Boys.
 
Thomas finished the finale 3-for-5 with an RBI, while Connor Counce and Chance Burcham each added a pair of hits, two RBI and a home run apiece.
 
Jacob Soisson and Conner Koepp each added as hit as well.
 
Brady Colbert collected the win, his fourth, after tossing 2.0 innings in relief and allowing just one hit while striking out three.
 
Nick Johnson got the start and allowed five runs, three earned, on nine hits in 6.0 innings of work with three K's of his own.
 
Counce put the team on the board with a two-run homer in the top of the first inning, and he would score later in the third when Brandon Grimsley reached on an error to open up a 3-0 lead in the third inning.
 
ATU would score the game's next five runs, two in the fifth and three more in the sixth to take a 5-3 lead heading into the top of the seventh.
 
For the third-straight game the Storm used two runs in the final inning of regulation to tie the game, this time thanks to a two-run homer by Burcham to make the score 5-5.
 
The Wonder Boys would load the bases in the bottom of the seventh, but Colbert would get the third out via pop up to first base to keep the game going.
 
Thomas would then lead off the eighth inning with a solo homer to left which would be all the runs the Storm would need as ATU went in order in the bottom of the inning to preserve SE's 6-5 win.
 
In game one the Storm suffered its second-straight walk-off loss as the Wonder Boys connected on a two-out, three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth to take the game 11-8 after winning the series opener in walk-off fashion the night before.
 
SE pounded out 12 hits in the game, outhitting the home team 12-to-8.
 
However, it was ATU that jumped out to a 4-0 lead after a pair of runs in the first and another each in the second and fourth innings.
 
The Storm finally answered in the fifth with an RBI fielder's choice by Thomas and a run scored by Burcham on an error by the Tech shortstop to cut the gap to 4-2.
 
The Wonder Boys would add a run in the sixth, but  Koepp would drive in a run on a single to center to start the scoring in the seventh, followed by a two-out, two-run single by Corban Taylor and an RBI single by Soisson to open up a 6-05 lead for SE.
 
However, ATU would get a pair of runs back in the bottom of the seventh to take a 7-6 lead and add another run in the eighth to go up 8-6.
 
Koepp would drive in two runs to knot the game at 8-8, but the Wonder Boys would get the last word with a three-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to steal the 11-8 win.
 
Koepp would finish the game 4-for-5 with a pair of RBI, while Soisson added three hits and a run driven in.
 
Burcham added a pair of hits, while Taylor, Collin Sefcik and Grimsley added one each.
 
Taylor chipped in a pair of RBI, while Thomas drove in one.
 
Taylor was saddled with the loss after tossing the final 2.2 innings and allowing six runs, four earned, on three hits with a pair of strikeouts.
 
Mathew Benedict got the start and allowed four runs on three hits in 3.1 innings pitched with a pair of K's, while Evan Sanders tossed 2.2 innings in relief as well and was hit for a run on two hits with two strikeouts.