Baseball Splits Monday at NWOSU, Wins Series

ALVA, Okla. – Southeastern split a Monday doubleheader at Northwestern Oklahoma State, winning the finales 7-2 to secure the series victory after dropping the opener 13-7 in Alva, Okla.
 
The split moves the Savage Storm to 8-5 overall on the season and 5-4 in Great American Conference play heading into its second-straight road series March 19-20 when it travels to Monticello, Ark., to face Arkansas-Monticello.
 
Seth Morrow put together a 3-for-3 outing in the finale, including a pair of doubles, with three RBI.
 
Reid Rice and Slayde Ortiz each posted a pair of hits, with Rice driving in three runs and Ortiz plating one.
 
Matt Miles, Richard Ware, Bryce McDermott, and Dylan Herd each added a hit.
 
Mason Whitmarsh got the start and picked up the win to move to 3-1 after tossing 5.0 innings and allowing a run on four hits with four strikeouts.
 
Logan Teske would, finish the game, tossing the final 2.0 innings and allowing a run on no hits with two walks and a strikeout.
 
SE would get on the board first in the finale, as Rice would plate a run in the top of the first to take a 1-0 lead.
 
Morrow would tack on a two-run double in the third, plating Ware and Miles, before coming home himself on an Ortiz single to take a 4-0 lead.
 
RBI from Morrow and Rice in the top of the fifth would extend the lead to 6-0, but NWOSU would get one back in the bottom half of the inning.
 
The Rangers would pick up another run in the bottom of the sixth, but a Rice double would drive in Morrow in the top of the seventh to extend the lead to 7-2 which would hold to be the final.
 
Despite collecting 13 hits in the opener and outhitting the Rangers, the Storm were unable to complete a comeback after falling behind 5-1 after two innings.
 
Reid Rice paced the club in the contest with a three-hit outing that included a homer, a double, and three RBI.
 
Miles, Morrow, Colton Buckner, and Herd each added two hits, while Ware and Rylee Holmes had one each.
 
Ware collected an RBI on a solo homer, while Herd drove in two and Holmes plated one.
 
Tyler Dean got the start and took the loss after giving up five runs on three hits with four walks and two strikeouts in 1.1 innings pitched.
 
Jacob Bigham came on and tossed 3.0 innings in relief and was tagged for three runs on six hits with a strikeout.
 
Kenneth Klier followed with an inning of work and allowed four runs on three hits.
 
KC Bryan followed with 1.2 innings, allowing a run on no hits with a pair of K's.
 
Coby Langford would throw a hitless eighth inning, striking out one top finish the contest.
 
The Storm got on the board first as Rice would single home Ware in the top of the first for a 1-0 lead.
 
NWOSU would answer however with back-to-back homers in the bottom half to take a 3-1 lead before tacking on two more in the second inning.
 
SE cut into the deficit with a two-run Herd double to score Buckner and Ortiz to close the gap to 5-3.
 
The Rangers would add a run in the bottom half to move that edge to 6-3.
 
A Ware homer in the fifth and a Rice homer to lead off the sixth would get the Storm within one at 8-7.
 
NWOSU would answer that with a four-run bottom half of the sixth to stretch its lead to 12-7, adding one more in the eighth to fashion the 13-7 final score.