Billikens end Southeast Missouri State baseball team's seven-game winning streak

Southeast Missouri State baseball players Derek Gibson and Andy Lennington both pointed out after their game against in-state rival Saint Louis University on Tuesday night that they faced a quality opponent, but also that they felt the Redhawks matched up pretty well with the Billikens.

They did -- both teams had 11 hits and two errors -- but the Redhawks let an opportunity slip through their grasp and were defeated 11-8 by the Billikens at Capaha Field.

The loss snapped a seven-game winning streak for the Redhawks (13-7), and gave SLU (11-8) a five-game winning streak against Southeast.

"We had a shot to win the game and we just kind of threw it away," Lennington said. "I mean we didn't throw it away, but they kind of capitalized at the end of the game and we just didn't really come through. It's definitely a tough loss, but we've got to kind of put it behind ourselves."

Southeast, which led early in the game and trailed by as many as five runs, had a chance to regain the lead in the bottom of the seventh inning.

The Redhawks trailed 9-7 when shortstop Branden Boggetto and second baseman Jason Blum both singled, and center fielder Cole Bieser was hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out.

Right fielder Dalton Hewitt worked a full count before hitting into a 6-4-3 double play to end the Redhawks' scoring threat.

"That was our opportunity right there," Southeast coach Steve Bieser said. "We could feel the game swinging back to us and that's a situation where Dalton, he put a decent swing on the ball and made good contact but it was just right at somebody. But those are the things that we also talk about, situations like that. We're in the middle of our order. We want to go ahead and take an aggressive swing at that ball and not just try to swing at it to put it in play, because when you start swinging like that you'll get the ground ball in the infield, and if Dalton goes ahead and takes an aggressive cut we've got Derek up behind that."

The Billikens added to their lead in the ninth inning on a two-run shot to center field by Danny Brennan.

While Lennington hit a leadoff triple in the bottom of the inning and was awarded home when the ball was thrown into Southeast's dugout to narrow the gape to three runs, the Redhawks couldn't complete the comeback.

"A team like that, you've got to come out and make no mistakes," Gibson said. "You've got to give it everything you've got every single play, and we knew that coming into the game. I don't think there was any lack of effort at all. I think we just come out and it wasn't our day today."

The Redhawks held a 3-0 lead after three innings. Gibson singled to start the second inning and eventually scored on a bases-loaded walk to Clayton Evans. Lennington drove in a pair of runs with a single down the left-field line in the third.

The Billikens knotted it 3-3 in the fourth.

After three scoreless innings with five strikeouts, no walks and allowing just two hits, starting pitcher Alex Winkelmann walked the first two batters in the fourth before giving up an RBI double.

SLU added its second run on a sacrifice fly to center field and tied it on a two-out single to left field.

"Going out and walking the first two batters kind of allowed them to get things going," Bieser said. "And that's something that we've got make sure that we make the other team earn those runs. We cannot give up free base runners. We had an error. Those are things that we've got to clean up [to be] as good a club as we want to be."

The Billikens added five runs in the fifth to take its largest lead of the game.

Mike Vigliarolo led off the inning with a double off the center-field wall. With runners on the corners, Jake Henson doubled to score two runs for a 5-3 lead.

A fielding error and a walk led to two more runs being scored on an single, and the Billikens capped the inning with a sacrifice fly.

Bieser noted the interruption of the Redhawks' daily routine by spring break as a possible factor in what he thought was a lack of focus by his team.

"We've got to make sure that we're ready to play," Bieser said. "But there's just a different feel when they don't have that daily routine of getting to class. You'd think it'd be rushed, but that's what they're used to doing. So spring break week I think does put a little different mindset in our guys and I don't know if they're as focused during this week.

"But they're grown men basically and they should be able to figure this out. It actually should be a relief not to have to go to class and be ready to come out and play, but it just seems like we struggle a little bit. Maybe it's something that we've got to switch up. I don't know if it was waiting around for the game to happen or whatever it was but we just, I don't think we played up to our capabilities."

The Redhawks remain atop the Ohio Valley Conference standings and are a perfect 6-0 in the OVC.

They face Morehead State in a three-game series starting Friday at 3 p.m. at Capaha Field.