Errors Prove Costly as SE Drops Pair of Games

DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern suffered heavily from miscues in its Friday afternoon double-header against Henderson State, dropping the opener 13-8 before allowing a late rally in the nightcap to fall 11-6 at The Ballpark in Durant.
 
The losses drop the Savage Storm to 14-18 overall on the season and 8-13 in Great American Conference play.
 
The series finale is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday and is to be preceded by a ceremony officially naming the field in honor of longtime head coach and Southeastern Hall of Famer Mike Metheny.
 
That ceremony is slated to begin at 12:30 p.m. and will be held regardless of whether the game is played as scheduled or not, with the ceremony set to move to the Blue and Gold Suite in Bloomer Sullivan Arena if inclement weather arrives on Saturday.
 
In the opener, the Storm outhit the Reddies 13-to-10, but suffered the ill effects of eight errors and 10 walks in a 13-8 loss.
 
Caleb Dubler, Austin Ferguson, Davis Jenks, Slayde Ortiz, and Harrison Whitworth each collected a pair of hits to power the SE offense.
 
Whitworth produced three RBI, two of them on a home run, while Ferguson drove in a pair with Dubler and Jenks adding one apiece.
 
Cody Nitson got the start and tossed 6.2 innings and was tagged for six runs, only two of them earned however, on six hits with eight strikeouts and four walks.
 
Jacob Bigham would come on to face three hitters and record one-third of an inning, allowing a run on two walks.
 
Beau Swimmer tossed the next two-third without allowing a run and surrendering one hit.
 
Jordan Compton checked in and tossed an inning and was touched for three unearned runs while striking out one to suffer the loss.
 
Logan Teske tossed the final one-third of an inning and was hit for three runs on three hits.
 
For the game, only five of the 13 Reddie runs were earned.
 
Action started slow as the Storm scored first in the bottom of the first on a Ferguson squeeze bunt which scored Drew Bolin for a 1-0 lead.
 
That held until the top of the fourth inning when three Storm errors would allow three runs and give HSU a 3-1 lead.
 
HSU added three runs in the top of the seventh, first putting up two on a homer and adding a third on another error to take a 6-1 lead.
 
Whitworth doubled home Ortiz in the bottom half of the inning to cut into the deficit and the Storm stayed on the attack later in the bottom of the seventh on back-to-back RBI doubles from Dubler and Ferguson to close the gap to 6-4.
 
The Reddies tacked on a run in the top of the eighth, but the Storm offense got a two-run home from Whitworth before benefitting from an HSU error when Bolin reached on a dropped third strike throwing error that allowed Bryce Deatherage to score and tie the game at 7-7.
 
Unfortunately, two more errors in the top of the ninth would trigger a six-run inning for the Reddies, and the Storm was only able to pick up one in the bottom half and ultimately fell 13-8.
 
In the nightcap, SE surrendered 10 runs over the final three innings, including five runs in the top of the seventh to fall 11-6.
 
Dubler and Luke Thomas each tallied two hits, while Bolin added two RBI, with Dubler and Colton Buckner driving in one each.
 
Deatherage got the start in game two and tossed 5.0 innings allowing four runs, two earned, on six hits with five strikeouts and four walks.
 
Mason Whitmarsh came on in relief and tossed 1.1 innings, earning the loss after allowing four runs on four hits while striking out one.
 
Davis Jenks recorded one-third of an inning and allowed three runs on two hits before Kason Grant tossed the final one-third of an inning, facing one batter.
 
SE took a 1-0 lead again in the bottom of the first on a Buckner RBI single, but HSU would answer with a run to tie the game in the top of the second inning.
 
The Storm exploded for five runs in the bottom of the fourth, scoring twice on account of Reddie errors before Bolin connected on a two-run homer and Dubler made it back-to-back homers with a solo shot to open a 6-1 lead.
 
HSU would snag three runs in the top of the fifth as part of 1 total runs over the final three innings to regain the lead and hand SE an 11-6 loss.