Storm Split Friday Twinbill, Win Series Over OBU

DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern powered its way to an 8-4 win in game one on Friday afternoon to secure a series win over Ouachita Baptist, but would see its bid for a sweep fall short as a late rally ended in a 6-5 loss at Mike Metheny Field.
 
The split moves the Savage Storm to 4-4 overall and 2-1 to open Great American Conference play heading into a midweek, non-conference contest with Southwestern Oklahoma State on Feb. 17 at Mike Metheny Field.
 
JJ Bush and Hayden Carpenter each collected a trio of hits, while Jacob Ambriz, Jax Heid, and Alex Showalter each logged a pair of hits.
 
Isaac Villa, Ryan Kirk, and Carter Olson each added a hit.
 
Bush, Olson, Ambriz, and Showalter each homered in the contest while Ambriz and Carpenter added doubles.
 
Olson drove in three runs on the day, with Bush plating two, while Ambriz, Carpenter, and Showalter drove in one each.
 
Estevan Fonseca got the start and took a no decision after tossing 4.0 innings and allowing three runs on five hits.
 
Colton Clawson followed and was tagged for a run on a hit in one-third of an inning.
 
Juan Berrios came on and recorded his first win of the year after allowing no runs on one hit in 2.2 innings before handing the ball to Marcus Mott who collected the save with two hitless innings.
 
The Tigers struck first in the opener with a two-run homer in the top of the first inning.
 
SE bounced back in the third inning, first with Olson connecting on a towering three-run homer to left field, taking a 3-2 lead.
 
A batter later Ambriz completed back-to-back home runs by driving one over the centerfield wall to push the lead to 4-2.
 
OBU turned in an RBI double in the top of the fourth to cut the Storm advantage to 4-3.
 
The Tigers tied the game in the top of the fifth at 4-4, but the Storm struck back immediately in the bottom half, first on a Bush solo homer followed by an RBI single from Carpenter to take a 6-4 lead through five innings.
 
Bush singled home Showalter in the sixth inning to stretch the lead to 7-4 and Showalter tacked on a solo homer in the bottom of the eighth to push that lead to 8-4 which would hold up as the final.
 
In the finale, Southeastern headed into the bottom of the sixth trailing 6-1 before Tyler Payton drove in a run and then scored on Easton Ford's two-run homer, closing the gap to 6-4.
 
Payton singled home another run in the bottom of the seventh, closing the score to 6-5, but the Storm hit into a game-ending double play with a runner on third to leave the final score 6-5.
 
Payton finished the game with a pair of hits and a pair of RBI, while Villa, Kirk, Bush, and Ford each added a hit.
 
Ford drove in a pair of runs on his homer, while Bush had a solo bomb in the third inning.
 
Jacob Fuller got the start and took the loss after allowing four runs on six hits with four strikeouts over five innings.
 
Carson Abbot followed and was dinged with two runs on two hits in two innings.