Southeastern Completes Series Sweep of Reddies

DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern scored seven runs to rally for an 11-7 win in game one on Sunday afternoon before holding off a late Henderson State charge in game two to earn a 6-5 win and complete the series sweep at Mike Metheny Field.
 
The wins lift the Savage Storm to 5-8 overall on the season and 5-2 in Great American Conference play.
 
In game one, Ryan Kirk, Brady Evans, Payton Poole, Wesley Mitchell, Chase Keeton, and Alex Showalter each picked up a pair of hits.
 
Gage Dollins, Carter Olson, Antonio Crews, and Austin Thorp added a hit apiece.
 
Keeton homered and led the way with four RBI, while Evans added a home run as well and drove in two runs.
 
Poole added three RBI, while Kirk, and Crews drove in one each.
 
Michael White got the start and tossed two innings, allowing five runs on four hits.
 
Colton Clawson followed with five innings in rleeif, allowing one run on three hits with a pair of strikeouts.
 
Carson Abbott entered in the eighth inning and picked up the win after allowing a run on four hits with three strikeouts.
 
He handed off to Brayden Phelps who recorded the final out and his first save of the season.
 
HSU put up three runs in the top of the first inning, but a Poole two-run double closed the gap to 3-2 after plating Ryan Kirk and Brady Evans.
 
The Reddies added two more runs in the top of the second, but Poole struck again with a sac fly in the bottom of the third, cutting the score to 5-3.
 
Keeton plated Poole with an RBI single to centerfield, trimming the deficit to 5-4 through six innings.
 
HSU pushed its lead to 6-4 in the top of the eighth, but the Storm answered in the bottom half, using a walk and a single to put a pair of runners on before Keeton connected on a three-run homer to right center, giving SE its first lead of the day at 7-6.
 
Kirk pushed the score to 8-6 with a sac fly before Evans tacked on a two-run homer, extending the lead to 10-6.
 
Crews added an RBI single up the middle to drive in Poole and push the lead to 11-6 heading to the ninth.
 
The Reddies picked up a run in the top of the ninth, but Phelps recorded his first save of the season to preserve the 11-7 win.
 
In the finale, Thorp logged a pair of hits, while Kirk, Mitchell, Grimsley, and Showalter each added a hit.
 
Kirk and Mitchell each homered and drove in two runs, while Thorp added an RBI.
 
Brock Zimmer got the start and picked up the win after going five scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out five.
 
Austin Hillebrandt recorded one-third of an inning, allowing a hit before Tanner Carter came on for an inning of work, allowing four runs on three hits.
 
Coby Grimsley was tagged for a run without recording an out before Abbott made his second appearance of the day and recorded the final two outs to earn the save.
 
SE took advantage of a Reddie error as Kirk scored the game's first run in the bottom of the first as Poole reached on an error.
 
A batter later Mitchell crushed a two-run homer over the hitter's eye in centerfield, giving the Storm a 3-0 lead.
 
In the second inning, Thorp collected a two-out triple and a batter later Kirk sailed a ball out to right-center, pushing the Storm advantage to 5-0 through two innings.
 
After a scoreless third, the Storm added a run in the bottom of the fourth on a Thorp RBI that plated Grimsley for a 6-0 lead.
 
HSU cut the Storm lead in half in the top of the seventh with a three run homer to right-center, and closed the gap further with a two-run shot later itn eh inning, but Abbott came on and recorded the final two outs to preserve the 6-5 win.