RIO GRANDE, Ohio – The IU Southeast baseball team swept Rio Grande 5-2 and 5-3 to open a weekend series at Rio Grande on Saturday.
 
In game one, Slater Schield drew a leadoff walk in the top of the first and came around to score on a RBI double by Mason White.
 
Rio Grande had runners at first and second in the bottom of the third with one out, but consecutive strikeouts by Luke Schafer ended the threat.
 
In the fifth, Ale Yurt led off with a single and moved to second on Colin Long's sacrifice bunt. Mason White drew a one-out walk but a strikeout and lineout ended the inning.
 
IU Southeast pulled away with a three-run sixth inning. After consecutive walks to Ethan Burdette and Luke Powell and a wild pitch put runners at second and third, Burdette scored on a another wild pitch.
 
Logan Murphy drove in Powell with a RBI single and a sacrifice fly by Yurt drove in Max Flock.
 
Luke Schafer struck out the first two batters he faced in the bottom of the inning but a hit batter and two-straight singles got a run on the board for Rio Grande.
 
The RedStorm scored another run in the seventh but Garrett Hill worked two scoreless innings to earn his third save.
 
Mason White added some insurance in the ninth when he hit his ninth home run of the season.
 
Luke Schafer (4-1) worked six innings and allowed seven hits and a run while striking out 11 and walking a pair in the win.
 
Mason White was 2-for-4 with a run scored and two RBI. Logan Murphy had two hits and drove in a pair.
 
In game two, the Grenadiers scored in each of the first four innings to take a 5-2 lead.
 
IU Southeast opened the scoring when Schield singled and moved to second on an error. After a sacrifice bunt by Kody Putnam put runners at second and third, Luke Powell singled to center to drive in both runs.
 
In the second inning, White hit a solo home run to center to extend the lead to 3-0.
 
Luke Powell led off the third with a solo home run to right-center, his first of the season.
 
Angel Cruz got the RedStorm on the board with a solo home run down the right-field line in the bottom of the inning.
 
In the fourth, Colin Long singled and stole second before scoring on a RBI single by White.
 
Waskar Martinez homered in the bottom of the fourth to cut the lead to 5-2.
 
In the bottom of the seventh, two errors put the tying run at the plate with no one out. Darius Jordan doubled to drive in Oscar Chirinos and then a walk loaded the bases with no outs.
 
Kasey Cheek recovered to strike out the next two batters and then got a groundout to secure the win and his first save.
 
Mason White had two more hits and drove in two. Luke Powell finished 2-for-2 with a run scored and three RBI in the win.
 
Starter Connor Sims (2-1) worked six innings and scattered two runs on five hits while striking out 12. He did not walk a batter.
 
The series concludes Sunday at noon.