SE Baseball Takes Series Opener Over HSU, 9-1

DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern scored in seven of the eight innings it batted in on its way to a 9-1 series-opening victory over Henderson State on Saturday afternoon at Mike Metheny Field.
 
The win lifts the Savage Storm to 3-8 overall of the season and 2-2 in Great American Conference play with the final two games in the series slated for a noon doubleheader on Sunday, Feb. 23 back at Mike Metheny Field.
 
Payton Poole, Wesley Mitchell, Alex Showalter, and Austin Thorp each logged a pair of hits, while Jake Miller and Chase Keeton each added one hit.
 
Mitchell, Miller, and Thorp each homered while Poole added a double.
 
Thorp finished the game with a team-best three RBI, with Mitchell following with two, while Gage Dollins, Miller, and Keeton each drove in one.
 
Daniel Collins got the start and took a no decision after allowing a run on three hits with three strikeouts across four innings pitched.
 
Cody Pfeffer came on in relief and logged four innings on his way to earning the win, his second of the season, while allowing no runs on a hit with four strikeouts.
 
Brayden Phelps closed out the contest by recording the final three outs, one of the a strikeout, to preserve the win.
 
Southeastern got on the board first in the bottom of the first, with Poole leading off with the games first hit followed by a Wesley Mitchell walk. Both moved up a base on a sac bunt with Keeton driving in Poole on an RBI fielder's choice for the 1-0 lead.
 
In the third, Kifrk drew a walk and moved to third on a pair of wild pitches before Dollins brought him home on a deep flyout to centerfield for the sac fly, plating Kirk for a 2-0 lead.
 
Mitchell added a run in the bottom of the fourth on a monster solo shot to right field, stretching the Storm lead to 3-0.
 
The Reddies picked up a run on a solo homer and threatened with runners in scoring position with one out when Keeton hauled in a fly ball to cener and threw a strike to home plate to double off the runner attempting to score for an inning ending double play, leaving the score 3-1 heading to the bottom of the fifth inning.
 
Miller connected on a solo homer with one out in the bottom of the sixth to stretch the lead to 5-1.
 
SE followed with back-to-back singles from Keeton and Showalter to put runners at first and third before Thorp reached on an RBI fielder's choice, scoring Keeton and pushing the lead to 6-1 throguh six innings.
 
Poole reached in the bottom of the seventh on a two-out double down the left field line and scored a batter later on a Mitchell single up the middle, pushing the lead to 7-1 through seven innings.
 
Thorp added two more runs in the bottom of the eighth with a two-run shot to right-center, extending the Storm lead to 9-1 heading to the ninth.
 
HSU put its first two runners on in the top of the ninth, but Phelps came on and recorded a strikeout before a game-ending double play set the final score at 9-1.