By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
For those seeking entertaining baseball, Chapman was the place to be on Friday as the Trojans and Irish played to a split that saw two late come-from-behind wins.
Southeast of Saline rattled off seven runs in the sixth inning of game one to take a 12-1 victory while Chapman erased a go-ahead run in extras to walk off game two 12-11.
Game One: SE of Saline 12, Chapman 10
After conceding a run in the top of the first, the Irish bats exploded in the second, rattling off seven runs to take a commanding 7-1 lead.
SES would get two of those runs back in the third and fifth innings, but still trailed 9-5 going into the sixth.
Finally, the Trojans got their bats going and kept the line moving, capitalizing on opportunities and scoring seven runs of their own to take back the lead.
Chapman managed to plate two more runs but the damage was done as Southeast slammed the door shut in a 12-10 victory.
Grady Gebhardt was the epitome of a leadoff hitter in this game, scoring four of the 12 Trojan runs throughout a 4-4 day at the plate.
Ian Nickelson, Evan Watkins, Cole Gilpin, and Tysen Keller all recorded multi-RBI days, combining to drive in eight runs on the day.
Game Two: Chapman 12, SE of Saline 11
The nightcap of this two-game set was a back-and-forth affair, with three ties and eight different lead changes.
The Irish took a 4-1 lead into the third, where Southeast scored six runs to flip the advantage back to the purple and white.
Three more Chapman runs would give the Irish a small lead going into the fifth, where they would lose, and reclaim a one-run lead all in the fifth frame.
Down to their final three outs, SES scratched across the tying run in the seventh, and then the go-ahead run in the eighth, but as they had done all game Chapman battled back plating two runs in the bottom of the eighth to clinch a walk-off win in extras.
Both teams would finish the nightcap with 14 hits, combining to score 45 runs in an offense-heavy doubleheader.
With these results, Chapman improves to 6-6 while Southeast moves to 7-5.
The Trojans will be back at home on Thursday to host Beloit, while the Irish hit the road to Concordia on Tuesday.