EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – SIUE baseball tied the score five times but dropped an 8-7 contest to UT Martin Friday at Simmons Complex.
The loss broke SIUE's 10-game winning streak, the longest streak of the Division I era for the Cougars and the longest since SIUE won 11 during the 2007 season.
SIUE, which earned the No. 1 seed at next week's Ohio Valley Conference Tournament with Thursday's win, dropped to 32-22 overall and 19-7 in the OVC. UT Martin upped its record to 26-28 and 11-15 in the OVC. The rubber game of the series will be decided Saturday at 1 p.m.
Ten SIUE seniors will be honored in a ceremony Saturday beginning at approximately 12:40 p.m. SIUE's senior class to be honored are Chase Bloomer, Gage Franck, Brenden Fry, Kyle Hepburn, Joshua Heyder, Mack Mitchell, Nicholas Moten, Spencer Stearns, Terrick Thompson-Allen, and Ethan Willoughby.
On Friday, the Skyhawks and Cougars literally were step for step.
UT Martin scored the first tally in the third inning, and SIUE tied the game in the bottom of the fourth on a Joshua Heyder double that scored Ryan Niedzwiedz.
UT Martin's Garner Anderson and SIUE's Mack Mitchell exchanged home runs in the fifth inning. Sean Kang added a sacrifice fly that tied the score 3-3.
In the sixth after UT Martin scored a single tally, Niedzwiedz smacked his OVC-leading 27th home run to right field.
The seventh once again was single tallied for both teams as the game was sent to extra innings. Brenden Fry's RBI single would later seal extra innings for the Cougars.
The Skyhawks moved ahead again in the 10th on a fielder's choice.
Daniel Gierer electrified the crowd with a 404-foot blast to tie the score 6-6.
UT Martin kept up its offense, finishing with 13 hits including a two-run homer in the top of the 11th by Cameron Greene.
Mitchell blasted his second home run of the game in the bottom of the 11th. It was the longest home run of the day at 439 feet.
Joseph Martin took the loss in relief. Mason Little tossed the final 1 2/3 for the Skyhawks for his third win of the season.
