KALAMAZOO, Mich. – SIUE baseball finished off a nonconference series win with an 8-1 win Sunday over Western Michigan. The Cougars won three of four in the weekend set.
The Cougars improved to 18-14 with the win. The Broncos dropped to 11-15.
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"This was a good series win," SIUE Head Coach Sean Lyons said. "We played a good brand of baseball this weekend."
Western Michigan opened the scoring with a run and a hit off SIUE starter Brant Glidewell before Glidewell settled in.
The Cougars tied the game with a run on two hits in the second inning when Ethan Copeland drove home Avery Owusu-Asiedu with a single to left. Connor Kiffer and Raul Elguezabal picked up back-to-back one-out hits in the fifth inning and both advanced on a passed ball. Ole Arntson plated both with a single up the middle to put the Cougars up for good at 3-1.
Kiffer and the Cougars cashed in on a two-out walk in the sixth inning. After Richie Well Walked, Kiffer homered to left to push SIUE's lead to 5-1. SIUE then made it 8-1 in the seventh. Copeland and Well each picked up RBIs in the inning, which also included a passed ball to score a run.
"Offensively we did a really nice job," Lyons said. "Once the game got settled, we did a nice job executing some small ball. We didn't hit a lot of ball overly hard, but we found some holes.
Glidewell improved to 4-0, working a career-best seven innings while allowing just the single run on four hits. He struck out three.
"Brant gave up the early run but then bounced back," Lyons said. "They weren't able to get anything going. He did a good job of making them put the ball in play and we were playing well behind him.
Rob Parks worked two scoreless innings to finish out the game on the mound.
The Cougars did not commit an error and turned three double plays in the field.
Owusu-Asiedu, Elguezabal and Copeland each collected three hits. Copeland, Kiffer and Arntson each finished with two RBIs.
"It's nice to have different guys stepping up on different days," Lyons added. "Nobody feels like they have to shoulder the load."
The Cougars return to Ohio Valley Conference play when they travel to Austin Peay for a three-game series beginning Friday.
"We have talked about what we need to do and the way we need to play," Lyons said. "I am hopeful that they way we played this weekend will carry through into the second half of the OVC season."
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