ST. CHARLES, Mo. – Lindenwood outslugged SIUE 18-13 to take the second game of a three-game series on a rainy, windy night Friday at the Lou Brock Complex.
The Cougars dropped back to 26-26 overall and 9-14 in the Ohio Valley Conference with the loss. Lindenwood moved to 12-42 overall and 7-16 in the OVC. The Lions kept its hopes alive for the eighth and final seed in next week's OVC Tournament.
The Cougars took a 5-0 lead with a run in the first and four in the second before surrendering 12 to the Lions in the bottom of the third. The Lion sent 16 hitters to the plate in the inning and were helped by six walks and a hit batter to lead 16-5.
Lindenwood outhit SIUE 15-14. SIUE pitchers allowed a season-high 14 walks and the Cougars committed a pair of errors. It was enough for the Lions to overcome six miscues of their own in the field.
"It wasn't a clean game from either side," SIUE Head Coach Sean Lyons said. "In the end we allowed to many free passes tonight."
The Cougars cut the lead to 16-11 with a six-run fifth inning, but never got any closer than five runs.
Avery Owusu-Asiedu hit his 15th home run of the year and added three RBIs. He was one of six Cougars with two hits. Brennan Orf and Josh Ohl each had two RBIs.
Teague Conrad (4-4) suffered the loss in relief. He allowed seven run in 1/3 of an inning. Conrad was the first of four pitchers to follow starter Tyler DeLong in the game. DeLong allowed four runs in 2 1/3 innings. Spencer Stearns turned in the longest outing, three innings, while allowing two runs on three hits. He struck out a career-high five hitters.
"Spencer did well to settle things down a bit tonight," Lyons said.
The Cougars and Lions will conclude the regular season Saturday with a 2 p.m. game before the OVC Tournament begins Wednesday in Marion, Illinois.
"We want to finish the season on a high note and carry some of that positivity into the tournament," Lyons added. "We'll come out ready tomorrow."
