EDWARDSVILLE – SIUE Baseball picked up another series win and regained sole possession of first place in the Ohio Valley Conference with a pair of wins over Western Illinois Sunday.
Following a suspended game because of rain Saturday, the two teams resumed the second game of the series Sunday afternoon with the Cougars winning 11-2. SIUE then scored eight unanswered runs in the second game to win 8-3.
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The Cougars improved to 15-6 in OVC play and 23-22 overall. The 15 wins are the most for an SIUE team since the 2015 season and the most under Sean Lyons. The Cougars have a one-game lead on Tennessee Tech atop the OVC standings.
Western Illinois dropped to 7-14 in the league and 15-28 overall.
In a scheduled seven-inning contest, WIU's Liam Bushey gave the Leathernecks a 3-0 lead with a three-run home run in the fifth.
SIUE had an answer in the bottom of the inning. John Stallcup singled with one out and Daniel Gierer and Mack Mitchell each walked to load the bases. Chase Bloomer, then drilled a triple inside the first base bag into the right field corner, clearing the bases and tying the game. Kyle Ratliff brought in Bloomer with a two-out single.
Gierer, Mitchell and Bloomer drove in runs in a three-run sixth inning for SIUE.
Bloomer was 2-4 with four RBIs in the final game of the series.
Alex Rodriguez (4-1) allowed two runs but earned the win with an inning of relief. Tyler Davis tossed two perfect innings to nail down his sixth save of the season. Garrett Helsel allowed a run over 4 1/3 innings in the start. He struck out four.
The Leathernecks struck first, when the first batter of the game Brock Lummus hit a solo home run to lead off the third inning when the second game of the series resumed earlier in the day.
The Cougars answered when Mitchell hit a two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the inning. The home run, Mitchell's 17th of the season, tied him for the league lead.
Chase Bloomer followed with a single. Bloomer stole second base and went to third when the throw from catcher Krayton Moore sailed into center field. Paul Osting fumbled the ball in center and Bloomer scored to make it 3-1. SIUE scored three more in the third inning with RBIs from Gierer, Mitchell and Bloomer.
The Leathernecks got a run back in the fifth to make it 6-1.
Kyle Ratliff brought home a run with a sacrifice fly in the seventh and the Cougars added four more two-out runs in the eighth. Bloomer drove in a run with a two-out single and Ryan Niedzwiedz hit a three-run homer for the 11-2 final.
Joseph Martin (3-0) threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings for the win in relief. He followed Spencer Stearns who allowed two runs in 4 1/3 innings.
Mitchell and Niedzwiedz were both 2-4 with three RBIs to pace the Cougars. Bloomer was 3-4 with the two RBIs. Gierer was 3-4 with an RBI.
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