SE Holds on For Win at NSU

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – Southeastern cruised out to an 11-0 lead over the first five inning and then held off a furious Northeastern state rally to pick up a 12-9 mid-week victory on Tuesday afternoon in Tahlequah, Okla.
 
The win lifts the Savage Storm to 12-11 overall on the season heading into a weekend Great American Conference series against Arkansas-Monticello scheduled to start Friday.
 
Nine SE hitters combined for 16 hits on the afternoon, led by Reid Rice in his collegiate debut as he finished the contest 3-for-4 with an RBI, two runs scored and two walks. Chris Eusay also added three this with an RBI and a run scored.
 
Davis Jenks, Slayde Ortiz, and Joseph Ramirez each collected a pair of hits.
 
Ortiz and Ramirez drove in three runs each, while Eusay, Richard Ware, Anthony Cassos, Jenks, and Rice had an RBI.
 
Jacob Bigham got the start and tossed six scoreless innings, scattering four hits and striking out six on his way to the victory.
 
Jordan Compton came on in relief and took the biggest shot, allowing six runs on three hits in two-thirds of an inning pitched.
 
Beau Swimmer followed and tossed 1.2 innings, allowing three runs, two earned, on three hits.
 
Tyler McGrew faced a pair of batters without being credited for a run before KC Bryan closed the contest with two-third of an inning with one K and no runs or hits allowed.
 
SE opened scoring in the top of the first inning with Cassos singling home Ware for the first run of the game.
 
Three batters later Ortiz would drive in a pair of runs on a single and Ramirez added a run a spot after that to take a 4-0 lead.
 
Eusay would tack on a run with an RBI double in the third and would explode in the fourth, first bringing in a run on a Jenks RBI single.
 
Ortiz would add an RBI double later in the inning, followed immediately by a two-run Ramirez single before coming around to score on an Eusay double, taking a 10-0 lead.
 
Rice would collect his first collegiate RBI in the fifth with a single to drive in Cassos for an 11-0 lead in the fifth.
 
The RiverHawks would answer int eh bottom of the sixth with six runs, trimming the Storm lead to 11-6 after seven innings.
 
A Ware RBI single in the top of the eighth would plate Eusay and stretch the lead to 12-6.
 
NSU would pick up a run in the bottom of the eighth and two more in the ninth to threaten the Storm before Bryan would come on and save the contest for the 12-9 win.