By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
The Southeast of Saline baseball team split their doubleheader with Ellsworth on Tuesday to secure at least a share of their fifth consecutive NCAA title.
The Bearcats silenced the SES bats in a 5-0 game one win, but the Trojans came roaring back to take game two 8-5, wrapping up the league portion of their schedule at 8-2 and moving to 14-4 overall.
Dayton Davis was lights out in game one, allowing just two total baserunners through seven innings of shutout ball, striking out 17 Trojans in the process.
Southeast held a potent Ellsworth lineup to just five runs but found themselves on the losing end of game one, with a chance to come back and secure the series split less than an hour later.
With Davis done for the day, the Trojans wasted no time striking for seven runs and batting around the order in the top of the first, chasing the Bearcat’s game two starter before he could record a second out.
Ellsworth would respond with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the frame and added another pair in the fifth, but their comeback bid came up short as SES cruised to victory and a critical eighth league win.
In game two it was Bryce Cooper who shined for Southeast on the hill, striking out four and stranding Bearcats in droves while allowing just three earned runs in six innings of work.
Offensively seven different Trojans would drive in a run in the 8-5 win despite finding just a lone extra-base hit on the day.
SES retains its spot atop the NCAA standings at 8-2, followed by 6-2 Ellsworth and 4-2 Sacred Heart. The pressure is now on the Bearcats and Knights who can secure a share of the league title but only if they win out.
As for the Trojans, they will conclude their regular season in Hays on Friday with a doubleheader against a former league foe in Russell before postseason play begins on May 16.