Storm Fall in Edmond Finale

EDMOND, Okla. – Despite pounding out 13 hits Southeastern found itself on the short end of an 8-7 score, falling in the finale of the Edmond First Pitch Classic to Pittsburg State on Sunday afternoon in Edmond, Okla.
 
The loss drops the Savage Storm to 1-2 overall on the season heading into the home opener on Feb. 5 at 1 p.m. against Northwest Missouri State at The Ballpark in Durant.
 
McCain Mason paced the offense with three hits, while Slayde Ortiz and Niko Piazza added two apiece.
 
Six others recorded one hit, including Joseph Cerda and Austin Ferguson who each posted a pair of RBI.
 
Ortiz, Colton Buckner, and Mason each drove in one.
 
Bryce Deatherage got the start on the hill and tossed 5.0 innings while allowing five runs on eight hits while striking out seven.
 
Davis Jenks came on in relief and allowed two runs on two hits in 1.2 innings of work before Logan Teske came on to throw the final 1.2 innings and allowed a run on two hits with four Ks while taking the loss.
 
Ortiz opened the game with a triple and scored when Cerda grounded out a batter later to take a 1-0 lead.
 
PSU answered with a three-run homer in the bottom of the first to take a 3-1 lead.
 
The Storm answered in the top of the first on an Ortiz sac fly which plated Mason to trim the deficit to 3-2.
 
The Gorillas would tack on a run in the bottom half of the second on a solo homer to push their lead back to 4-2.
 
The Storm got moving in the top of the fourth with Cerda singling home Mason followed by an RBI double by Ferguson to plate Cerda and Ortiz and take a 5-4 lead.
 
SE would add to it with a run in the top of the fifth on a Mason single which plated Piazza for a 6-4 lead.
 
PSU would get a run back in the fifth and add two more in the seventh to go ahead 7-6 after seven.
 
The Storm would get a run back in the top of the eighth on a Buckner RBI groundout to knot the score at 7-7.
 
However, PSU would get the final run home in the bottom of the eighth to hand SE an 8-7 defeat.