By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
The Southeast of Saline baseball team tightened their grip on the NCAA with a pair of landslide victories over Minneapolis, outscoring the Lions 32-4 in a Tuesday’s two-game set.
The Trojans won both games in run-rule fashion by final scores of 17-2 and 15-2 to advance to 13-3 overall with a pristine 7-1 league record.
Minneapolis got on the board with a first-inning run in game one, but that would be the only Lions lead in either contest as SES quickly put up three in the first and 12 in the second to cruise to a four-inning 17-2 victory.
Of the ten hitters who stepped to the plate in the series opener, seven would have multi-hit games by the fourth, including a four-hit performance by Hart Nurnberg.
Landen Allen led the way in raw production, driving in six as part of a 3-4 day at the plate, with six more runs coming home courtesy of 3-RBI games for Bryce Cooper and Clayton Meier.
On the hill Allen sent Minneapolis packing in short order, tossing four innings of four-hit ball and striking out six while helping to strand six more.
Game two saw more of the same but this time the Trojans led from wire to wire, scoring five in the first, six in the second, and four in the third to lock up the sweep in just five innings.
Once again Minneapolis struggled to get runners aboard thanks to five combined innings of five-hit ball between Bryce Cooper and Evan Nickelson to ensure that throughout both games, the Lions would not average more than a single hit per inning.
The two allowed just two walks and struck out five while the Trojan bats torched Minneapolis pitching adding five more multi-hit games to their tally.
Southeast also used this opportunity to get some of their younger players varsity at-bats, as fifteen different Trojans would get at least one plate appearance in game two.
SES will take the long weekend to rest up before traveling to Ellsworth for a best of two on May 3, which could very well decide the winner of the NCAA this year
The Bearcats and Trojans will each enter the doubleheader at 7-1 in league play with two league contests remaining afterward for each side.