Baseball Holds on for 15-11 Win at ECU

ADA, Okla. – Southeastern used an eight-run second inning outburst to open up a lead and hold on for a 15-11 shootout victory over rival East Central in the series opener on Saturday afternoon in Ada, Okla.
 
The win lifts the Savage Storm to 16-22 on the year and a 12-11 in Great American Conference play with the final two games in the series set for a 1 p.m. first pitch on Sunday afternoon.
 
The win puts SE in the driver's seat as the winner of the series will earn the league's final postseason tournament berth.
 
Six players recorded multi-hit outings for the Storm and every starter recorded a hit in the team's 15-hit effort.
 
Brandon Grimsley continued to crush baseballs, homering twice and collecting half of a home-run-cycle with a grand slam and a three-run shot to tally a game-high seven RBI in the contest.
 
Corban Taylor added two homers of his own, collecting a two-run shot and a solo homer to rack up three RBI in the game.
 
Dylan Helms, Jacob Soisson, Conner Koepp and Brayon Colley each added a pair of hits.
 
Helms and Koepp had two RBI each and Colley added one.
 
As good as things were offensively, it was a tough day to be on the hill for either team.
 
Dylan Linke collected his third win of the year but was still roughed up for nine runs, eight earned, on 12 hits with six strikeouts over six innings of work.
 
Cody Luman came on for 1.2 innings of work and allowed a pair of runs, one earned, on four hits with a K.
 
Brady Colblert came on for the final five outs and collected his fifth save of the season after striking out one and allowing one base runner.
 
ECU got on the board first in the game with a run in the bottom half of the first inning, but the top of the second inning would see the score evened and then some, beginning with a bases-loaded, two-out plunking of Colley to score Chance Burcham and tie the game at 1-1.
 
Helms followed one batter later with a bases-loaded walk for a 2-1 lead which did not last long as Grimsley came to the plate one batter later and smashed a grand slam to open up a 6-1 lead.
 
Cody Coats would follow by getting hit by a pitch and Taylor would add his first long ball of the day two plate two more runs and take an 8-1 lead.
 
In the third, Koepp and Colley collected back-to-back hits with two outs and Koepp scored on a Helms RBI single for a 9-1 advantage.
 
Grimsley would then add his second blast of the day, a three-run shot that opened up a 12-1 lead for the Storm.
 
The Tigers would get a pair of runs back in the bottom of the third to barrow the score to 12-3.
 
They would continue to chip away with a pair of runs in the fourth and another in the fifth to make the SE lead 12-6 after five innings.
 
The Storm would find its offense again in the sixth inning, loading the bases with two outs for Koepp who connected on a two-run double down the right field line to push the lead out to 14-6.
 
But ECU continued to try to mount a rally, picking up three runs in the bottom of the sixth and another in the seventh to close to within 14-10.
 
Taylor would add his second homer of the day, a solo blast, to put the Storm up 15-10 in the top of the eighth.
 
The Tigers would add a run in the bottom of the eighth, but that was all they would get as the Storm held on for the 15-11 win.