Southeastern Tames Tigers 4-1 in GAC Opener

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Payton Poole collected three hits while Brady Evans and Chase Keeton each homered to help lift Southeastern to a 4-1 win over Ouachita Baptist in the team's Great American Conference opener on Sunday night in Hot Springs, Ark.
 
The win moves the Savage Storm to 2-6 overall on the year and 1-0 to open conference play.
 
Poole finished the contest with three hits, including a double and an RBI.
 
Evans, Keeton, and Wesley Mitchell each added two hits, with Evans and Keeton driving in an RBI on solo homers, while Mitchell logged a double and an RBI.
 
Daniel Collins got the start and took a no decision after allowing a run on two hits with eight strikeouts over 4.1 innings of work.
 
Cody Pfeffer came on in relief and picked up the victory after tossing 2.2 innings, allowing one hit and no runs while striking out two.
 
Brayden Phelps followed with two-thirds of an inning, striking out two before handing the ball to Brock Zimmer who struck out three of the final four batters he faced in the game, recording his first save of the season.
 
SE jumped in front two batters into the contest as Evans connected on a solo homer to left-center to take a 1-0 lead.
 
Keeton led off the fourth inning with another solo homer to push the lead to 2-0, but OBU cut that in half in the bottom half of the inning with a two-out RBI single.
 
The Storm tacked on two more runs in the fifth as Poole doubled in Evans followed by an RBI single from Mitchell to plate Poole for a 4-1 lead.
 
 Both teams loaded the bases in the eighth inning without bringing in a run, allowing the Storm to preserve its 4-1 advantage which would hold up as the final score.