In desperate need of a series victory after three straight rough weekends, the Southeastern Savage Storm baseball team came through in a big way against conference leading Arkansas-Monticello.
The Savage Storm won game one (10-7) and three (9-6) and nearly pulled off the series sweep against the Boll Weevils, who have already clinched a postseason berth.
With the series victory Southeastern improved to 15-12 in Great American Conference action and moved into a three-way tie for fourth in the league standings. The Savage Storm’s final two GAC series are slated against the two teams they are tied, including visiting Southern Arkansas this weekend.
In the Monticello series, Southeastern got off to a sensational start by batting around the order and tagging the visitors for nine runs in the opening stanza. Carter Olson, Austin Parker and Ryan Kirk all homered and Olson added a second roundtripper one frame later to stake the Savage Storm to a 10-0 advantage.
Monticello gradually cut into the margin, including bringing the tying run to the plate in the ninth inning before Estevan Fonseca slammed the door on the comeback bid to earn the save.
Kirk and Olson each had two hits and drove in three at the plate. Dylan Hill was credited with the pitching victory, yielding four earned runs on eight hits while fanning eight in five and two-third innings.
Game two looked similar to the first as Southeastern raced to a 4-0 lead after one inning, but managed only one run the rest of the way while the visitors rallied.
Jacob Ambriz and Payton Poole each smashed a home run in the first frame uprising. Poole also drove in the final Savage Storm run with a single in the fifth.
Isaac Villa, J.J. Bush, Poole and Jax Heid all had two hits in the Southeastern 10-hit arsenal.
Coach Alan Trayler’s club got off to another fast start in the decisive rubber game of the series with a six-run outburst in the second stanza. Olson had the big blast once again with a grand slam home run in addition to Caiden Hubbard’s two-run double.
Hubbard contributed a homer of his own later in the seventh inning, a solo blast that notched the final Southeastern insurance tally.
Daniel Collins pitched five and two third innings for the mound victory, striking out six while yielding six hits. Austin Hillebrandt got the final out in the ninth for his first save of the season.
Hubbard ended with three hits and three RBI with Villa and Alex Showalter contributing two hits apiece.
