Storm Rally for Senior Day Win over HSU

DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern overcame a five-run deficit and rallied for an 8-7 win on Senior Day over Henderson State in the series opener on Saturday afternoon at Mike Metheny Field.
 
The win lifts the Savage Storm to 14-17 on the season and 10-15 in Great American Conference play with the final two games of the series slated for a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Sunday.
 
Richard Ware paced the Storm offense, picking up three hits on the day, including a home run, while driving in a pair of runs and scoring three times.
 
Seth Morrow and Colton Buckner each added two hits, while Slayde Ortiz, Joseph Ramirez, and Dylan Herd each had one.
 
Buckner and Ortiz each had two RBI in addition to Ware's two.
 
On the hill, Jacob Potter got the start and lasted 4.1 innings while allowing six runs on five hits with four walks and four strikeouts in a no decision.
 
Dylan Turner came on in in relief and turned in his second-longest outing of the season, picking up his first victory after going 4.2 innings and allowing a run on four hits with five strikeouts.
 
SE opened the contest with an Aaron Herrera walk and a Ware single before Buckner would drive them both in on a one-out two-run single to take a 2-0 lead.
 
That lead disappeared in the fourth inning as HSU, powered heavily by a grand slam, would put up five runs to take a 5-2 lead.
 
That stretched to 7-2 after a two-run single in the top of the fifth.
 
SE answered in the bottom half of the inning as Herd led off with a double and would score two batters later on Ware's two-run homer to left, cutting the deficit to 7-4.
 
Morrow followed with a walk and Buckner doubled down the right-field line to put two runners in scoring position for Ortiz who would double to left-center, plating two runs and cutting the gap to 7-6.
 
A Ramirez single would move Ortiz to third and he would come home on a wild pitch, the first pitch thrown by the Reddie reliever, knotting the game at 7-7.
 
It would stay tied until the bottom of the eighth inning when Ware connected on a two-out single followed by a Morrow single through the right side, but the right fielder who was new to the field in the contest, mishandled the ball and it would get away from him toward the corner, allowing Ware to score the go-ahead run from first base on the error.
 
HSU would open the ninth with a single, but Turner would execute a perfect pickoff move and catch him out to dry between first and second. He would coax a pair of fly ball outs to left field to end the game with an 8-7 win.