EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – SIUE baseball opened the Ohio Valley Conference season with a 7-5 win over Lindenwood Friday at Roy E. Lee Field.

SIUE improved to 6-16 overall. Lindenwood dropped to 5-16.

"We're fortunate to come away with the win, but that's OVC play," SIUE Head Coach Sean Lyons said. "It doesn't matter either team's record when you get into conference play. It's just different. There's so much more at stake. Everyone feels like it's a refresh on your year. Both teams came out and played that way."

The Cougars broke on top thanks to a two-run single by Chase Bloomer in the third. Zack Floyd and Drew Mize both scored after leading off the inning with back-to-back hits.

It was 2-1 SIUE when Bloomer singled in the fifth to drive in Lucas Spence to make it 3-1.

Floyd doubled in Gage Franck and Daniel Gierer in the sixth to push the advantage to 5-1 before Lindenwood rallied.

The Lions trimmed the lead to 5-4 with four two-out runs in the seventh knocking out SIUE starter Tyler DeLong (1-1), who allowed just a run on one hit over his first 6.2 innings. DeLong struck out five and did not walk a batter on his way to his first win of the year.

"Tyler DeLong gave us a really good start," Lyons said. "He was cruising along and just got into trouble in the seventh."

Zues Ponder picked up a strikeout for the final out in the seventh.

The Cougars answered with two in the bottom of the seventh on RBI hits from Ryan Niedzwiedz and John Stallcup.

"That was huge," Lyons said of the runs in the seventh inning. "We were able to move some guys around and get some big hits. That was huge to give us a little cushion-a little bit of breathing room."

Duncan McLaughlin worked the eighth inning, allowing a run which cut SIUE's lead to 7-5. He started the ninth inning, but left with the bases loaded and one out. Liam McKillop retired the final two Lindenwood hitters, leaving the bases loaded when the game ended.

"'Dunc' didn't have his best today, but we've talked about having our teammates there to pick us up," Lyon said. "Liam came out of the bullpen there and closed the game out.

"He's been in that situation for us earlier this year," Lyons said of McKillop. "We had confidence in him to come in and pound the strike zone. That is what we needed in that moment."

Bloomer led the Cougars with three hits and three RBIs. Floyd finished with two hits and two RBIs. Stallcup and Gierer also finished with two hits apiece.

"Chase Bloomer had a good day for us offensively," Lyons said. "He was really big for us. Zack Floyd and Johnny Stallcup had some big hits for us as well."

Zach Buschschulte (0-3) started and worked 5.1 innings for Lindenwood. He allowed five runs in the loss.

The two teams will play game two of the series Saturday at Simmons Baseball Complex.

"We've got to take the momentum from today and come out ready to play again tomorrow," Lyons added.