SE Tripped up in Extra Innings

DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern got a pair of game-tying home runs from Logan Terwilliger and Brandon Grimsley, but the Savage Storm was unable to find that magic again in the bottom of the 11^th inning in a 9-7 loss to rival East Central in the series opener on Saturday afternoon.
 
The loss drops SE to 25-22 overall on the year and 19-12 in Great American Conference play heading into a regular-season ending double-header slated for 1 p.m. on Sunday.  It will also serve as senior day as 13 Storm players will be playing their final home regular season game.
 
Terwilliger knotted the game with a three-run homer in the sixth inning at 4-4 and two innings later Grimsley hit a two-run shot to tie the game at 7-7.
 
Dylan Helms led the Storm hitters with a 3-for-5 effort at the plate with a pair of RBI, while Terwilliger and Jake Perez added two hits each.
 
Terwilliger drove in three runs, while Grimsley and Helms had two RBI each.
 
Despite striking out 11 Tiger hitters on the contest, SE pitching allowed 16 hits as Dylan Linke got the start and tossed 6.0 innings, allowing four runs on nine hits with six strikeouts.
 
Michael Brinska faced one batter to start the seventh inning who would single and come around to score.
 
Brady Colbert tossed the final 5.0 innings and took the loss after allowing four runs on six hits with five strikeouts.
 
ECU scored first with a run in the top of the third inning, but a Helms single would drive in Perez to knot the score at 1-1.
 
The Tigers picked up an RBI double and a two-run homer in the sixth to take a 4-1 lead, but again the Storm had an answer, this time with Terwilliger's three-run homer which also scored Kaleb Thomas and Perez.
 
ECU added three more runs in the seventh inning, but a Helms RBI single to plate Ty Hanson was the only answer the Storm had in the bottom half of the inning and trailed 7-5 heading to the eighth.
 
In the bottom of the eighth it was Grimsley's turn to connect on a game-tying home run, this one driving in Terwilliger and knotting the score at 7-7.
 
That was where it sat at the end of the ninth and 10^th innings before ECU picked up a pair of runs in the top of the 11^th to which SE was unable to find an answer in a 9-7 loss.