NEW ALBANY, Ind. – Marco Romero was 3-for-4 and Hunter Kloke had another solid start as IU Southeast defeated Oakland City 6-3 to open a three-game series on Friday.

Oakland City (13-15, 6-7 RSC) struck first after a leadoff walk and double in the top of the first. Joel Archer hit a two-run single to right to get the Mighty Oaks on the board.

IU Southeast (22-11, 13-0 RSC) scored once in the second and twice in the third to take the lead.

In the second inning, the Grenadiers used a two-out rally to get on the board. John Ullom singled and scored on a RBI double by Ben Berenda.

In the third inning, Clay Woeste singled and stole second. He scored on.a two-out RBI double by Brody Tanksley and Marco Romero gave the Grenadiers the lead with a RBI single to left-center.

IU Southeast tacked on runs in the fourth and the fifth. In the fourth, Tyler Mills scored on a passed ball. In the fifth, Matt Monahan led off the inning with his ninth home run of the year.

Oakland City cut the deficit to 5-3 in sixth when Kyle Stuckey hit a sacrifice fly to score Colton White.

But the Grenadiers got the run back in the eighth inning when John Ullom singled and stole second and scored on a RBI single by Ethan Shafer.

Hunter Kloke moved to 5-1 on the year with six solid innings of work on the mound. He allowed three runs on six hits, walked three and struck out five.

Lane Oesterling worked the final three scoreless innings for his second save of the year. He allowed two hits and a walk while striking out two.

Marco Romero was 3-for-4 with a RBI and John Ullom was 2-for-4 with two runs scored.

IU Southeast concludes the series with Oakland City with a doubleheader on Saturday set for 1 p.m.