LEXINGTON, Ky. – Brant Glidewell tossed a career-high eight innings and the Cougars hit five home runs Wednesday morning in a 13-1 win over Austin Peay giving SIUE its first-ever win at the Ohio Valley Conference baseball championship.
The Cougars improved to 26-26 overall. Austin Peay finished its season at 19-37.
SIUE's five home runs tied the single-game record for home runs at a neutral site game in the OVC Tournament. Tennessee Tech hit five home runs against Belmont in a 2017 tournament game in Oxford, Alabama.
The Cougars scored three times in the second and added another three runs in the third to lead 6-0. SIUE added a run in the fourth to lead 7-0. It was 7-1 in the eighth when the Cougars scored six times to seal the win.
Brady Bunten hit a pair of home runs, getting the scoring started with a solo homer in the second. He added a three-run home run in the third. Bunten now has 30 home runs for his career, and is five away from tying SIUE's career home run record.
Steven Pattan hit a two-run homer in the second inning, just the second of his career. Richie Well hit his 13th of the year, a two-run shot, in the eighth inning. Drew Mize hit his first career home run in the eighth for the final margin.
Glidewell (5-2) held the Governor scoreless for seven innings. The only run they managed was a two-out solo home run by All-OVC catcher Jack Alexander in the eighth inning. Glidewell allowed four hits total and struck out five.
"We got off to the quick offensive start, which was big," SIUE Head Coach Sean Lyons said. "The story of the day was Brant Glidewell. What an outstanding effort from him. He set the tone with eight strong innings."
SIUE moves on to face fourth-seeded Eastern Illinois in an elimination game scheduled for 3 p.m. CT.
"We'll enjoy this one for a little bit and then we'll turn our focus to Eastern Illinois," Lyons said. "It is a long day but the guys are excited about playing in the tournament and it showed today."
