Southeastern Drops GAC Tourney Opener

ENID, Okla. – Despite a pair of Wesley Mitchell home runs, Southeastern was unable to overcome five errors on the day, falling to Arkansas tech 19-5 in its Great American Conference Tournament opener on Thursday afternoon in Enid, Okla.
 
The loss drops the Savage Storm to 21-29 overall on the year as well as into the loser's bracket where eit will square off with fifth-seeded Ouachita Baptist at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, May 2 in a win-or-go-home contest back in Enid, Okla.
 
Mitchell finished the day with a pair of hits, both home runs, along with three RBI and two runs scored.
 
Austin Thorp also added two hits, one of them a homer, with one RBI.
 
Chase Keeton added a solo homer and finished with a hit and an RBI, while Gage Dollins, Ryan Kirk, and Colton Sagely each picked up hits.
 
Daniel Collins got the start and took the loss after allowing nine runs, five of them earned, on nine hits across 4.1 innings.
 
Austin Hillibrandt followed and allowed three runs on two hits without recording an out before handing the ball to Brock Zimmer who also allowed three runs, doing so in two-thirds of an inning
 
Tanner Carter stepped in next and was tagged for four runs on two hits in one-third of an inning, with Brayden Phelps following and tossing two-thirds of an inning, facing three batters.
 
SE got started on the right foot as Evans opened the contest getting hit by a pitch and Mitchell immediately followed with a two-run homer to take a 2-0 lead.
 
The Storm survived some misplays in the bottom of the first, giving up just one run to maintain a 2-1 lead.
 
That extended to 3-1 with Mitchel connected on his second home run of the day in the top of the third inning.
 
ATU answered with a run in the bottom of the third and took advantage of three Storm errors an inning later to put up five runs and take a 7-3 lead.
 
The Wonder Boys followed with eight runs in the bottom of the fifth, as three Storm pitchers fought to get out of the inning, allowing five hits and committing an error push the ATU lead to 15-3.
 
Keeton picked up a solo homer in the top of the sixth to nip into the deficit, but Arkansas tech followed up with four runs in the bottom of the sixth to stretch its advantage to 19-4.
 
A Thorp solo home run in the top of the seventh trimmed the deficit to 19-5, but SE was unable to stave off the run-rule, leaving that as the final tally.