SE Rallies for 9-8 Win over HU in 10 Innings

DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern clawed back from an early six-run deficit and picked up 9-8 win in 10 innings in the rubber-match of its conference series with Harding on Saturday afternoon at The Ballpark in Durant.
 
The win lifts the Savage Storm to 11-10 overall and 7-5 in Great American Conference play.
 
Colton Buckner paced the Storm offense, finishing a home run shy of a cycle while driving in four runs.
 
Joseph Cerda added three hits as well, while Caleb Dubler and Drew Bolin chipped in two apiece.
 
Austin Ferguson, Niko Piazza, Davis Jenks, Slayde Ortiz, and Harrison Whitworth each picked up a hit as the Storm outhit the Bisons 15-to-9.
 
Bolin, Ferguson, Luke Thomas, Piazza, and Ortiz each drove in a run in the effort.
 
Bryce Deatherage had his roughest outing of the season, lasting one-third of an inning and accounting for six runs, four of them earned, on five hits.
 
He was followed up by Kenneth Klier who had his longest outing in relief this season, tossing 4.2 and allowing a run on three hits with six strikeouts.
 
Beau Swimmer came on to toss 3.1 innings and allowed a run on a hit with two K's.
 
Logan Teske would check in for the final 1.2 innings and face six batters to pick up his first victory of the year.
 
Harding sent 11 hitters to the plate in the top of the first inning, took advantage of an error and hit two home runs to open a 6-0 lead midway through the first.
 
SE answered with a pair of runs on a Buckner triple to get on the board, with Piazza singling home Buckner two batters later to cut the deficit to 6-3 after one inning.
 
The Bisons added another run in the top of the second to push their edge to 7-3.
 
Neither team would bring home a run over the next three inning, despite the Storm putting runners on in each of them, until HU connected on a solo homer in the top of the sixth to take an 8-3 lead.
 
Southeastern would get the offense moving in the bottom of the seventh inning, loading the bases with one out when Buckner connected on a two-run single to left center. That was followed two batters later with an Ortiz RBI single to close the gap to 8-6 after seven innings.
 
SE would put a pair of runners on with one out when Bolin singled down the right field line to drive in Regan Warren.  Two batter later Ferguson would drive in Cerda on a groundout to knot the game at 8-8.
 
Both teams would threaten in the ninth but neither would score, sending the game to extra innings.
 
SE would get out of trouble in the top half of the ninth and get a runner on in the bottom half with a two-out single by Ferguson.
 
He moved around to third when Harding's third baseman went to second for the final out but threw wide of second to keep the inning alive with runners on the corners.
 
The game would end a batter later when Thomas drove home Ferguson for the game winning run on an error by the Bison shortstop for the 9-8 win.