COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Freshman right-hander Tim Teixeira tossed six innings of two-hit baseball and Joshua Heyder turned in a three-hit night to lead SIUE baseball to a 5-1 series-opening win at Tennessee Tech Friday.

The Cougars (11-13) are the last unbeaten team in Ohio Valley Conference play, improving to 4-0 in the league. Tennessee Tech (18-9) suffered its first league loss and is 3-1 in the OVC.

The win is the first for SIUE at Tennessee Tech since the 2019 season.

Teixeira (2-1) tied his career high with six innings. He allowed a run on two hits and struck out eight.

The Cougars got on the board in the fourth after Ryan Niedzwiedz doubled to start the inning, he scored on a two-out hit by Joshua Heyder.

After Tennessee Tech tied the game in the fifth thanks to a wild pitch, an RBI double by John Stallcup in the sixth inning scored Lane Crowden to make it 2-1.

Mack Mitchell led off the seventh inning with his sixth home run of the year to extend the lead out to 3-1. Heyder homered as part of a two-run eighth inning. Crowden scored later in the inning on a wild pitch to make it 5-1.

Zach Duenas threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings and Liam McKillop tossed the final 1 1/3 innings, striking out three to earn his first save of the season.

Heyder finished 3-4 with two RBIs to pace the Cougars at the plate. Crowden was 2-4 with a pair of runs scored.

TTU reliever Logan Moller (0-1) suffered the loss. He allowed four earned runs on five SIUE hits in 2 1/3 innings. Jaxson Pease started for the Golden Eagles and allowed a run over five innings.

Game two of the weekend series is set for 2 p.m. Saturday.