Baseball Saves Saturday Split at SWOSU

WEATHERFORD, Okla. – Southeastern and Southwestern Oklahoma State combined for 45 runs over two games as the Savage Storm bounced back from an 18-4 loss in game one to salvage a split on Saturday with a 14-9 win in the series finale in Weatherford, Okla.
 
SE moves to 7-9 on the season after the split with a 2-4 mark in Great American Conference play as the team returns home on March 1 for a non-conference double-header against former rival Central Oklahoma slated for noon at The Ballpark in Durant.
 
In the series finale the Storm found itself down 4-0 in the first inning, but found an answer in the top of the second beginning with a Tim Hunter two-run double that scored Corban Taylor and Nolan Fanning.
 
That was followed by a two-run Dylan Helms double which brought home Connor Counce and Hunter to knot the game at 4-4.
 
However, the Bulldogs would swipe one back in the bottom of the second to take a 5-4 lead.
 
Logan Terwilliger would provide SE's response in the top of the third with a three-run homer to open up a 7-5 lead.
 
SWOSU would get one more in the bottom of the third, but the Storm offense continued to power on in the top of the fourth.
 
A Greg Husnander double drove in Brandon Grimsley and Kaleb Thomas and a Terwilliger sac fly later in the inning would push the Storm advantage to 10-6.
 
The bulldogs would get a run back in the bottom of the sixth to cut the Storm lead to 10-7.
 
Southeastern found yet another response in the top of the seventh, first on a Helms RBI single to score Jake Perez, followed by an RBI single by Grimsley to make the score 12-7.
 
Thomas would score on a passed ball during Husnander's at bat which itself would end with another RBI single to bring in Grimsley for a 14-7 lead.
 
SWOSU would try to mount a rally in the bottom of the seventh, picking up a pair of runs, but Brady Colbert would get out of the inning and preserve the 14-9 win.
 
Husnander would finish the game with three hits and three RBI with a pair of runs scored to lead the offense with piled up 15 hits.
 
Helms, Thomas, Grimsley, Taylor and Hunter each added two-hit outings, while eight of the nine starters collected hits in the game.
 
Terwilliger turned in a four RBI effort, while Husnander and Helms added three each with Hunter driving in two.
 
Matt Benedict got the start but was chased before recording an out after allowing four runs on two hits over the first five batters faced.
 
Brady Colbert would come on and toss 7.0 innings of relief to collect his first win of the year after allowing five runs on nine hits while striking out 12.
 
The opener Saturday was nearly a polar opposite of how the day ended as the Storm offense struggled to get moving.
 
Fanning and Terwilliger collected the team's only two hits, with Terwilliger driving in two and Fanning adding one RBI.  Ty Hanson was responsible for the remaining RBI.
 
On the hill however, Dylan Linke collected the loss after allowing 11 runs, 10 earned, on 10 hits with four strikeouts in 2.2 innings pitched.
 
Cory Scheibner would add an inning in relief and was touched up for three runs on four hits with Cody Luman tossing the next 1.2 innings while allowing three runs on one hit.
 
Michael Brinska would finish the run-rule shortened contest with the final two-thirds of an inning, allowing a run on a hit.
 
Terwilliger actually staked SE to a 1-0 lead with an RBI double in the second inning, but the lead was short lived as the Bulldogs answered with five runs in the second and another six in the third followed by a three-run fourth to open up a 14-1 lead.
 
The Storm got an RBI single from Fanning, followed by an RBI hit-by-pitch from Terwilleger and a sac fly by Hanson to close to 14-4, but SWOSU added four more in the bottom of the sixth to fashion the 18-4 final score.