Baseball Sweeps SAU in Friday Twinbill

MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Southeastern got a pair of outstanding pitching performances from Dylan Linke and Matt Benedict as well as a pair of saves from Brady Colbert en route to a double-header road sweep of Southern Arkansas, taking game one 5-3 and winning the nightcap 3-1 in Magnolia, Ark.
 
The wins lift the Savage Storm to 23-18 overall and 18-8 in Great American Conference play and in sole possession of first place in the league standings heading into Saturday where SE will face SAU in the finale of its series at 1 p.m.
 
The sweep also insures the Storm will win its seventh-straight GAC series with a chance to pick up its third series sweep with a win on Saturday.
 
SE took advantage of a four run third inning to open up a lead in game one, with Logan Terwilliger doubling home Dylan Helms for the game's first run, followed by Kaleb Thomas scoring on a wild pitch for a 2-0 lead.
 
Greg Husnander would draw a walk and steal second to open the door for Corban Taylor to drive in him and Terwilliger to double the score to 4-0 after three innings.
 
Husnander would add an insurance run in the fifth with a solo homer, which was useful as SAU would get a three run shot of their own in the seventh to close to 5-3.
 
Linke would follow the homer by striking out the five-hole hitter to end the inning, with Colbert coming on and after a walk and a single would retire the final six hitter of the game to preserve the 5-3 win.
 
Terwilliger and Taylor each had a pair of hits, with Taylor driving in a pair of runs, while Terwilliger and Husnander had an RBI each.
 
Linke picked up his seventh win of the year after tossing 7.0 innings and allowing three runs on six hits with six strikeouts before Colbert come on for the final two innings, allowing just one hit.
 
In the nightcap Brandon Grimsley and Kaleb Thomas combined for five of the team's seven hits, with Grimsley going 3-for-3 and Thomas going 2-for-3.
 
Grimsley, Husnander and Taylor each drove in a run.
 
Benedict tossed 5.1 innings and picked up his fifth win while allowing a run on seven hits with five strikeouts.
 
Colbert came on to earn his 10^th save of the season after allowing a hit in 1.2 innings of work.
 
A Grimsley double in the third inning would drive in Thomas for a 1-0 lead, but the Muleriders had an immediate answer with a run in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game at 1-1.
 
The Storm would find its next answer in the fifth, first when Husnander singled home Thomas and one batter later when Grimsley scored on a Taylor sacrifice fly for a 3-1 lead.
 
After getting an out in the sixth, Benedict would allow a pair of baserunners before giving way to Colbert who used two batters to get out of that inning and struck out a pair in the seventh, including the final out to preserve the 3-1 win.