Boggetto homers twice as Southeast Missouri State baseball takes down Stephen F. Austin

These are promising times for Branden Boggetto.

As his final days at Southeast Missouri State dwindle down, Boggetto is beginning to settle into his daily routine and strictly focus on baseball.

The senior shortstop hammered a pair of home runs in the Redhawks' 9-5 win over Stephen F. Austin on Sunday afternoon at Capaha Field, providing further proof that he's well-prepared for his team's postseason march.

"I love to play ball, and it's nice waking up just going through the routine and just focusing on baseball. That's all you've really got to worry about," said Boggetto, who was named last month to the Brooks Wallace Shortstop of the Year Award watch list. "It's big just waking up and doing the right things -- making sure your body's in shape, you're getting the right amount of sleep, you're eating right.

"With school out, we've got a lot of extra time to make sure we're doing the right things and working extra hard. Routine's a big part of it."

Southeast Missouri State's Robert Beltran delivers a pitch Sunday against Stephen F. Austin at Capaha Field.Wayne McPherson ~ Special to the Southeast Missourian

Boggetto gave Southeast (34-16) an early lead in the bottom of the first when he drove a 1-2 pitch over the left-field fence for a two-run shot.

"The pitch before, I got a slider that I kind of popped up. The third baseman couldn't make a play on it, and I got the same exact pitch on the next pitch. And I put a good swing on it," Boggetto said. "I didn't know if it was going out at first. The left fielder looked like he might catch it, but it just kept going and going."

SFA (27-24) took its only lead of the game in the top of the third. Clark Kahawaii and Tyler Kendrick started the frame with back-to-back singles and moved into scoring position on a bunt by leadoff hitter Matthew Dickey. Nick Ramos plated Kahawaii on an RBI groundout before the next batter, No. 3 hitter Kyle Thornell, sent a payoff pitch to right for a two-run homer that gave the Lumberjacks a 3-2 advantage.

Redhawks starter Robert Beltran responded by retiring nine straight and didn't allow another hit until the seventh.

"I felt really good. My arm's felt the best it has all season, and I was just throwing pitches for strikes," Beltran said. "I was able to put a fastball in and just keep those hitters off-balance."

Southeast Missouri State's Dan Holst slides into third base after hitting a triple in the bottom of the fourth inning Sunday against Stephen F. Austin at Capaha Field.Wayne McPherson ~ Special to the Southeast Missourian

Beltran picked up the win on the mound to improve to 8-1 on the year. The lefty struck out four, walked one and allowed five runs (four earned) on seven hits.

"I think it's what Robert's done every single Sunday for us -- just go out there and throw strikes and keep the defense involved and give us a quality start," said Southeast pitching coach Lance Rhodes, who spoke to the media after head coach Steve Bieser left the game early to attend his daughter's high school graduation. "... He had the one pitch there where it could've gone either way. It happened to go their way and he hangs a pitch and the guy hits it out, but really that was the only mistake he made all day long. He threw the ball extremely well."

Garrett Gandolfo led off the bottom of the fourth for Southeast with a double to right and scored when Dan Holst, who finished 2-for-4, followed with a triple down the right-field line. Holst reached home and put the Redhawks ahead 4-3 on a sacrifice fly by Daniel Costello.

Southeast never trailed the rest of the way.

"It's nice going up there just knowing they're going to put up runs no matter what," Beltran said about the offense. "It gives me the confidence just to fill up the strike zone."

Southeast Missouri State's Jacob Lawrence delivers a pitch in the top of the ninth inning Sunday against Stephen F. Austin at Capaha Field.Wayne McPherson ~ Special to the Southeast Missourian

Holst reached on a bunt single and scored on a throwing error in the bottom of the sixth before Boggetto provided the final blow an inning later.

With a 2-2 count and two runners on, Boggetto lifted a towering shot that rode the foul pole in left field. As Boggetto trotted around the basepaths, home plate umpire Jeff Bottoms signaled a fair ball, prompting immediate skepticism from SFA coach Johnny Cardenas, who quickly scampered from the dugout to have a short-lived chat with Cardenas. Bottoms issued a warning to Cardenas, and action was resumed with the Redhawks leading 8-3.

"I was just sticking with my approach, and I put a good swing on a pitch that got left over the middle of the plate," said Boggetto, who now has five home runs and a team-leading 53 RBIs on the year. "It was close, but I'll take it."

Beltran gave up a double to Dickey and issued his first walk to lead off the top of the eighth. He was replaced by Jake Busiek, but the Lumberjacks loaded the bases when Thornell reached on a catcher's interference.

A pair of RBI groundouts and a pop-up to right ended the threat, as Southeast carried an 8-5 lead into the home half of the inning.

Costello lined a leadoff triple into the gap in left-center and scored on a one-out single by Andy Lack to give the Redhawks a little more insurance heading into the ninth.

Jacob Lawrence worked around a leadoff single to secure the victory for Southeast with a scoreless final inning of relief.

The Redhawks hit five of their 11 combined hits off SFA starter Jarred Greene, who was tagged with the pitching loss in five innings of work. Greene allowed four runs (all earned) with two walks and no strikeouts.

Trevor Ezell added a pair of base hits in the leadoff spot for Southeast, which is now batting .310 on the season.

"In the last week or so, we haven't been hitting as a team, kind of just not stringing things together when we need to -- not getting clutch hits," Boggetto said. "Over the last two days, we've really buckled down and have hit as a team, played as a team."

Southeast returns to Ohio Valley Conference action this weekend with its final series of the regular season at home against Belmont. The Redhawks can outright clinch their third straight OVC regular-season title with a win or an Austin Peay loss.

Looming further ahead is the OVC Tournament, which is slated to begin May 25 at The Ballpark in Jackson. Southeast is guaranteed one of the top two seeds.

"I think the mindset right now is just winning one game at a time because our guys know that we're one win away from clinching this thing outright ourselves," Rhodes said. "We don't want to get ahead of ourselves and start thinking about the tournament or anything like that. We know that Belmont's going to come in, and they're right there in the middle of the pack with three or four teams that are fighting for 4-6 in the tournament.

"They're going to come out. They're going to play their best, and we've got to be able to match that. ... If we can just play really good baseball and control what we can control, then we're going to be fine."