Baseball Drops Pair at Southeastern

DURANT, Okla. - The Austin College baseball team stepped out of conference play and into NCAA Division II competition on Tuesday, with the 'Roos coming up short against Southeastern Oklahoma in both halves of a doubleheader. The 'Roos dropped game one 6-2 before falling 8-0 in game two.

Southeastern jumped on top early in game one, taking a 2-0 lead in the top of the first when Austin Parker singled home a run and another run later came home on an error. The margin grew to 3-0 in the fourth, before the 'Roos got on the scoreboard thanks to an RBI single by Caleb Staggs in the top of the fifth.

The Storm added a run in the bottom of the fifth and two more in the sixth to push it to a 6-1 advantage, with Staggs driving in one final run in the seventh to end things with Southeastern on top 6-2. Tripp Thoms went 2-for-2 to lead the 'Roos at the plate and Jaxyn Rogers scored both of Austin College's runs, while Shelton Rhoades absorbed the loss after giving up three runs - two earned - on two hits with three walks and a pair of strikeouts in 3.1 innings. Marcus Mott got the win in relief for Southeastern.

Austin College only gave up six hits in game two, but the Storm took advantage of three errors, three hit batters, and six walks issued by the 'Roos. Southeastern scored once in the first, twice in the second, and three more times in the third to quickly build a 6-0 lead, tacking on a run in both the fourth and fifth innings to make it 8-0. The 'Roos were held to four hits as a team as they were unable to get any offense generated, with Jayden Ayala-Hinojosa going 2-for-3 to lead Austin College at the dish.

Keaton Bradshaw took the loss in a game that saw five pitchers form a platoon for the midweek, non-conference game. Bradshaw gave up three runs - two earned - without surrendering a hit in 2.0 innings of action. Ryan Rauss got the win in relief for Southeastern.