EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – SIUE righthander Collin Baumgartner fired seven dominant innings Friday as the Cougars opened the Ohio Valley Conference schedule with a 4-2 win over Tennessee Tech at Simmons Baseball Complex.

SIUE improved to 6-6 overall and are 1-0 in the OVC. Tennessee Tech has lost nine consecutive games and slipped to 3-9 overall.

Baumgartner scattered four Tennessee Tech hits over seven innings, did not walk a batter and struck out a career-high 12 hitters.

"He gave us the exact kind of start you want to start OVC play," SIUE Head Coach Sean Lyons said. "That is the first time this year he has been that sharp. It was really fun to watch him pitch today. It wasn't a great hitting day, but he came right after them."

SIUE hitters knocked around three Tennessee Tech pitchers, putting up a season-best 14 hits, all of them singles.

"We had a bunch of singles and a bunch of guys on base," Lyons said. "We just kept grinding."

Justin Perkins drove home the first run of the day in the third to score Tyler Bastunas who opened the inning with a single.

SIUE scored three times on four hits in the seventh inning to chase TTU starter Alex Hursey.

Perkins and Aaron Goecks each picked up RBI hits in the inning. Steven Pattan drove home a run with a groundout.

Hursey (0-2) allowed three runs on 11 hits. He walked one and struck out seven.

"We were just waiting for the break to be able to put up a crooked number," Lyons added. They kept battling. They did a nice job and were able to hang on."

Cole Milam earned his third save of the year, tossing the final two innings. Milam allowed two runs, but struck out five hitters. He walked back-to-back hitters with one out in the eighth He allowed a run on a hit, but came back to work out of the jam. He struck out the side in the ninth despite allowing a run on a pair of hits.

"He persevered," Lyons said of Milam. "It was great to see that out of him. That was the first time this year he has had to face a little adversity. Sometimes you don't have your best stuff but you just have to compete with what you've got that day. He was able to get himself out of that jam in the eighth and I think that settled him down."

Brett Pierson finished 4 for 5 with a run scored. Perkins was 2 for 4 with the pair of RBIs. Pattan and Raul Elguezabal each had two hits.

Game two of the three-game series is Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. Kenny Serwa makes the start for SIUE.

"This is step one," Lyons said. "We have to come back tomorrow and perform well again."