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Box Score 2 CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – SIUE and Austin Peay split a pair of games Friday to open an Ohio Valley Conference series at Raymond C. Hand Park.
Austin Peay won the opener 7-6 in 12 innings on a two-run home run by Malcolm Tipler in the bottom of the 12th. SIUE came back to win the night cap 11-3.
"Bouncing back after a tough loss says a lot about the character of this team," SIUE Head Coach Sean Lyons said.
The Cougars are now 9-8 in OVC play and 19-15 overall. Austin Peay is 10-10 in OVC play and 13-23 overall.
Game one went to extra innings tied 4-4. Both teams scored a run in the 11th inning. Raul Elguezabal homered for the Cougars before the Governors picked up a run on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning. SIUE took a 6-5 lead in the top of the 12th inning on two hits including a Brady Bunten run-scoring double.
Tyler Bastunas (1-1) suffered the loss in relief in game one.
Austin Peay wasted little time in taking an initial lead against SIUE starter Noah Matheny. Governors' leadoff hitter Gino Avros homered on a 2-1 pitch to left in the bottom of the first.
SIUE took the lead on three hits in the third inning. Brett Johnson reached with a double to right center with one out and then scored on a hit by Richie Well. Well then went to second when the ball was misplayed in the outfield. A two-out hit by Elguezabal put the Cougars up 2-1.
Connor Kiffer drove home a run with a sacrifice fly in the fifth and Johnson scored in the inning on a wild pitch to push SIUE's lead to 4-1.
Austin Peay tied things in the bottom of the inning with four hits which spelled the end of the day for Matheny, who allowed four runs on eight hits in five innings.
Johnson finished 3-5 with three runs scored. Elguezabal was 2-6 with the home run and two RBIs.
Tipler and Garrett Spain each finished 3-5 for Austin Peay.
In game two, the Cougars jumped on Austin Peay starter Sebastian Martinez, loading the bases in the first inning. Johnson walked to start the game and Well and Kiffer each collected one out singles before a wild pitch put SIUE on top. Elguezabal walked to load the bases again before Brady Bunten lined into a double play to first. Ole Arntson then connected on his team-best ninth home run of the year, a three-run shot, to make it 4-0 Cougars after a half inning.
Austin Peay scored single runs in each of the first three innings to trim the lead to 4-3.
The Cougars used five hits and a pair of Austin Peay errors to score five times the seventh inning. Kiffer came into score on an error after singling to lead off the inning. Avery Owusu-Asiedu and Brett Johnson each added an RBI-single in the inning. Steven Pattan picked up an RBI on a groundout.
SIUE tacked on two more runs in the ninth inning when Elguezabal roped a two-run double to left center to score Kiffer and Johnson.
Five Cougars had multiple hits in the late game. Kiffer finished 4-6 with three runs scored. Owusu-Asiedu had three hits. Johnson, Well and Arntson each had two hits. Arntson finished with a game-best four RBIs for the Cougars.
Kaid Karnes (1-3) earned his first win of the year with six shutout innings in relief. He allowed just four hits and struck out a career-best eight hitters.
"We needed a guy to step up today on the mound and Kaid did that for us," Lyons added. "He did a great job today."
The finale of the series is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday.
