Southeastern Baseball Falls in Series Finale

DURANT, Okla. – Three home runs and 14 hits on the day were not enough to offset a brutal ninth inning as Southeastern dropped the rubber match of its series versus Southwestern Oklahoma State by a score of 17-11 on Monday afternoon at Mike Metheny Field.
 
The loss drops them to 15-23 overall on the season and 11-13 in Great American Conference play, but the turnaround is short this week as the Storm will be back on Mike Metheny Field on Tuesday afternoon for a 3 p.m. contest versus East Central that coincides with the University celebrating its 40^th SpringFest.
 
Ausitn Thorp finished the day with a trio of hits to lead the way for the Storm, while Brady Evans, Wesley Mitchell, and Nick Mueller each picked up two.
 
Chase Keeton, Jake Miller, Carter Olson, Alex Showalter, and Gage Dollins registered a hit apiece.
 
Evens had a homer and a double, while Mueller and Olson each added home runs, and Mitchell and Keeton turned in doubles.
 
Luke Johnson got the start and tossed three innings, allowing three runs on three hits in a no decision.
 
A total of 10 pitchers followed him, with only Brayden Phelps and Ryan Rauss putting in a full inning or more.
 
Phelps finished with 1.1 innings and Rauss tossed one complete but was saddled with the loss.
 
Austin Hillebrandt and Corbin Lingo each turned in efficient outing, going two-thirds of an inning each with no runs or hits allowed.
 
Mueller put the Storm on the board in the bottom of the first with a three-run homer which plated Mitchell and Evans as well.
 
The Bulldogs answered with a three-run shot of their own in the top of the third, knotting the game at 3-3 midway through the inning.
 
That tie did not last long though as Mitchell doubled home Evans to break the tie and Mueller drove in Mitchell for a 5-3 lead after three innings.
 
SWOSU got a run back in the fourth and two innings later took the lead with a pair of runs in the top of the seventh, going ahead 6-5 midway through seven.
 
Evans tied the game again in the bottom of the seventh with a solo homer and it would head to the ninth tied at 6-6.
 
However, four Southeastern pitchers combined to toss the top of the ninth inning with only Lingo finding any success as the Bulldogs put up 11 runs to take a 17-6 lead midway through the inning.
 
SE did not go quietly in the bottom half as Dollins scored on a wild pitch and Olson connected on a grand slam, closing the deficit to 17-11, but that was as close at it would get.