EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. (Interstat) — Tim Teixeira delivered a dominant start, and the SIU Edwardsville offense broke open a tight game with a three-run sixth inning to defeat Tennessee Tech 6-1 on Friday in the opener of an Ohio Valley Conference series at Roy E. Lee Field.

The Cougars (12-14, 1-0 OVC) rode the right arm of Teixeira, who struck out nine over seven scoreless innings, allowing just four hits and no walks. His performance was a stark turnaround from his previous outing, a five-inning, six-run effort against Morehead State.

Tennessee Tech (9-17, 0-1) managed only five hits and its lone run was unearned. The Golden Eagles have lost four of their last five.

The game was a 1-1 pitcher’s duel through five innings. SIUE struck first in the bottom of the first when Mack Mitchell tripled and scored on Ethan Willoughby’s RBI single. The Golden Eagles answered in the fifth, capitalizing on a fielding error by Willoughby at third base. After Bennett reached on the miscue and advanced to second, Brody Rooker singled and Miguel Jimenez followed with an RBI single to tie the game.

The most important part of the game came in the bottom of the sixth, when the Cougars seized control against Tennessee Tech starter Jaxson Pease. With one out and a runner on first, second baseman Garza’s fielding error put runners at the corners. Sean Kang then singled up the middle to drive in the go-ahead run. Daniel Gierer followed with an RBI single, and after a pitching change, Chase Bloomer added another run-scoring single to make it 4-1.

Pease took the loss, charged with four runs, though only one was earned, on five hits over 5 2/3 innings. He struck out five.

SIUE added two insurance runs in the eighth on a throwing error by Garza and a run-scoring groundout from Kang, who finished with two RBIs. Gierer also drove in a run as part of a two-hit day.

Porter Conn closed the game for the Cougars with two perfect innings of relief, striking out three.

The result defied the pregame projections from Interstat, whose ELO system had given Tennessee Tech a slight probability edge to win, while its simulator had predicted a 7-2 SIUE victory.

The teams continue the three-game series on Saturday.