EDWARDSVILLE – Austin Peay scored three times in the top of the 10th inning Sunday to complete a three-game Ohio Valley Conference sweep of SIUE baseball with a 7-4 win at Simmons Baseball Complex.
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"It's a rough way to end, but I am proud of the way the guys battled today," SIUE Coach Danny Jackson said. "We just came up a little short."
The Cougars fell to 9-37 overall and 6-21 in OVC play. Austin Peay improved to 31-18 overall and 21-9 in league play.
Austin Peay took advantage of six walks in the top of the 10th inning. Logan Gray forced in the eventual winning run when he walked with the bases loaded and two out to make it 5-4. Chase Hamilton followed with a double, which bounced over the centerfield fence to score two.
Zach Malach (1-2) suffered the loss, accounting for all three runs in the 10th. He walked four in the inning, after tossing a perfect ninth inning and striking out two.
"I don't know if he had gotten a little tired," Jackson said. "He hadn't gone two or three innings at a time in a while. We tried to leave in there as long as possible because he's our guy."
The Cougars took an early lead for the second consecutive day. Keaton Wright and Jacob Stewart each had RBI-hits in the first inning to put SIUE up 2-0.
After Austin Peay got a run back in the second, the Cougars responded in the bottom half of the inning.
Kailer Smith led off the inning with a single to right. Freshman outfielder Logan Andersen belted his second career home run with two outs in the inning to give SIUE a 4-1 lead.
Hamilton hit his third home run of the series for the Govs in the third inning to cut the lead to 4-2. Austin Peay added single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to tie the score at 4.
Andersen and Wright each had two hits for the Cougars. Andersen finished the series 6-14 (.429) with the home run and four RBIs.
SIUE also celebrated Senior Day, recognizing its nine seniors prior to first pitch. Six of the team's nine seniors appeared in the game Sunday while eight appeared in the series at some point. P.J. Schuster and Skyler Geissinger joined Stewart in the starting lineup. Zach Little and Ryan Agnitsch saw time out of the bullpen in addition to Malach.
Pitcher Jarrett Bednar started Saturday's game for the SIUE while Travis Felax made a relief appearance in Friday's game.
Only senior pitcher Ryan Daniels, who is battling injury, did not appear in the final weekend home series.
"I was able to get a lot of seniors some playing time today," Jackson added. "It was good to get those guys some playing time. We just had a rough 10th inning and we just couldn't come out on top."
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