Bolt's thunder stuns Redhawks in ninth

~ Southeast surrendered a late home run in a 5-4 loss to Illinois State.

Losses don't get much tougher than what Southeast Missouri State experienced Sunday afternoon.

The Redhawks scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning and held a lead until the top of the ninth.

But one swing of Matt Bolt's bat was all it took to deflate the Redhawks and more than 700 fans at Capaha Field.

Bolt belted a two-run home run with one out to put Illinois State ahead 5-4, and the Redbirds closed out Southeast for a series sweep.

ISU, which won 8-5 Friday and 8-2 Saturday, evened its record at 6-6. The Redhawks fell to 7-6.

"This one really hurts," Southeast coach Mark Hogan said.

Adding to Hogan's dismay was something similar happened earlier in the week.

Tuesday night at Arkansas State, the Redhawks rallied from a 5-1 deficit with four eighth-inning runs, but the Indians hit a walk-off homer in the ninth to win 6-5.

"Two in one week, that's enough," Hogan said.

While Bolt put the final dagger into Southeast, the Redhawks were no doubt kicking themselves for not having a bigger cushion entering the ninth inning.

Southeast, leading 4-0 after pushing across a run in the fifth without the benefit of a hit, had the bases loaded with one out in that frame but failed to do any further damage.

In the seventh, nursing a 4-3 lead, Southeast had runners on second and third with one out but could not push anybody home.

"We had chances to break the game open," Hogan said. "We shouldn't have been in that position."

But that's the way Southeast's offense has gone virtually the entire season.

The Redhawks, batting just .227 as a team, scored three runs on three hits in the first inning but managed just four hits and one run the rest of the way.

Southeast had 23 hits in the series -- just 12 in the last two games -- compared to 34 hits for the Redbirds.

"There's no way we can go eight innings and get four hits," Hogan said. "As a group, we're just not getting the job done."

Things started out well enough for the Redhawks.

Freshman third baseman Nick Harris led off the bottom of the first with a double and scored on senior second baseman Omar Padilla's single.

With one out, senior center fielder Dustin Pritchett blasted his first home run of the season, a shot over the left-field fence, to make it 3-0.

But the Redhawks' offense sputtered the rest of the way, which allowed the Redbirds to stay in the game.

Trailing 4-0, ISU chipped away with a run in the sixth and two in the seventh, one being unearned.

That set the stage for the dramatic finish.

Southeast junior right-hander Ivan Nails, who retired two batters in the seventh and worked a scoreless eighth, tried to close out the victory in the ninth.

Kyle Cheney, ISU's No. 9 hitter, led off with a single and was sacrificed to second.

In stepped Bolt, who homered in Friday's series opener and had three homers in his previous four games.

The left-handed hitting Bolt drilled a Nails pitch over the right-field fence to put the Redbirds on top.

"I was just trying to do my job -- just put it in play and hopefully get him [Cheney] in, if not make it first and third," Bolt said.

Southeast had an opportunity in the bottom of the ninth, as Harris led off with a single and Padilla sacrificed.

But sophomore first baseman Matt Wagner, the No. 3 hitter, flied out to left and Pritchett, who bats cleanup, struck out looking.

"We had a chance in the ninth," Hogan said.

Wasted was another strong start from senior left-hander Asif Shah, who allowed six hits and three runs (two earned) in 6 innings. He struck out four and walked two.

Shah has a 1.57 earned-run average in 23 innings but is just 1-0.

"He did a super job," Hogan said. "He certainly deserved to win the ballgame."

Nails (0-1) took the loss. Senior lefty Josh Parham retired the final two batters in the ninth, after ISU had runners on second and third.

Pritchett and Harris both had two of Southeast's seventh hits. Harris leads the Redhawks with a .321 average. Nobody else is batting better than .286.

Southeast continues its eight-game homestand at 3 p.m. Tuesday against NAIA Bethel College (13-7-1) of Tennessee.