EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – SIUE baseball earned a senior day win Saturday at Roy E. Lee Field, defeating Tennessee Tech 9-2, to even the three-game Ohio Valley Conference series at a game apiece.
The Cougars improved to 11-12 in OVC play and 19-30-1 overall. Tennessee Tech is 13-10 in the league and 29-21 overall.
Garrett Helsel allowed just two runs over a career-high six innings to even his record at 2-2. He struck out three in the win.
"Garrett Helsel was outstanding," SIUE Head Coach Sean Lyons said. "I think it is the best pitched game of his career here. He was able to mix pitches and command pitches. He did an outstanding job and it was exactly what we needed."
Jacob Kampf completed the day with three scoreless innings in relief to earn his first save of the season. He allowed just two hits and struck out one.
"Kampf was the same way out of the pen," Lyons said.
The Cougars broke a 2-2 tie with a four-run seventh inning. SIUE took advantage of a pair of Tennessee Tech errors in the inning. Zack Floyd drove home two with a single. Two hits and two more Tennessee Tech errors allowed the Cougars to score twice in the seventh. John Stallcup and Mack Mitchell each had RBIs in the inning. Chase Bloomer tripled off the right field fence to score Ethan Willoughby in the eighth inning for the final tally.
"We were able to take advantage of a couple of defensive miscues and some bunt situations that allowed us to stretch out the lead and come away with a win today," Lyons added. "We were putting some guys on base, and we didn't have a whole lot to show for it in the first five innings."
SIUE took a first inning lead when Lucas Spence bounced a double over the right field fence and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Ryan Niedzwiedz.
After a Golden Eagle run in the top of the third, Niedzwiedz made it 2-1 Cougars in the bottom of the inning with his team-leading ninth home run of the year to right. TTU scored a run on a pair of hits in the fourth to tie the score 2-2.
Peyton Calitri (7-2) suffered the loss allowing six runs, five earned, on nine SIUE hits. It is only the third time in 13 starts that Calitri had given up at least five earned runs in a game. SIUE's nine hits are the most Calitri has allowed this year.
Offensively, the Cougars got three-hit days from Ethan Willoughby and Zack Floyd. Floyd added a pair of RBIs.
"You always seem to have a guy do it on senior day and a senior in Zack comes through with three hits," Lyons said.
SIUE did not commit an error and the Cougars turned three double plays in the game.
SIUE and Tennessee Tech will play the rubber game of the three-game series Sunday at Simmons Baseball Complex. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
"It will be a good matchup. Whoever plays the cleaner baseball is the team that is going to come out on top," Lyons said.
