Cummings hits three HRs in 9-8 victory over Murray State

The Tyrell Cummings Show took center stage at Capaha Field on Sunday.

Cummings blasted three home runs and the Southeast Missouri State baseball team needed every one of them to beat visiting Murray State 9-8.

"It's the first time I've ever hit three home runs in a game," said Cummings, the Redhawks' junior college transfer right fielder. "It makes it even better when you win."

Cummings saved his best for last, when he drilled a leadoff homer that barely cleared the left-field fence in the bottom of the eighth inning to break an 8-8 tie.

"I didn't know if that was going to go out," said Cummings, who fell one homer short of the single-game school record and became the first Southeast player to hit three home runs in a game since 2003. "I thought maybe it would hit off the wall."

Southeast took two of three in the weekend series to improve to 13-10 overall and 5-2 in Ohio Valley Conference play. The Redhawks are in second place in the 10-team league, just one-half game behind Samford.

"This was big for us," sophomore shortstop Nick Harris said. "Murray State is a scrappy bunch. We'd get up and they'd keep coming back."

FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.com Southeast Missouri State's second baseman Zachary Blemker threw to first after Murray State's Brooks Thornton was forced out at second base in the ninth inning Sunday at Capaha Field.

Southeast coach Mark Hogan said he felt fortunate after the Redhawks won a series that saw all three games decided by two runs or less.

Murray State (11-13, 2-6) captured Saturday's opener 5-3, but Southeast bounced back to win the nightcap of the doubleheader 3-2. That set the stage for Sunday's wild affair.

"All the games could have gone either way," Hogan said. "We were lucky to get two out of three."

Cummings, who starred at Seminole State Junior College in Oklahoma last year, has made a huge impact during his first season with the Redhawks.

Cummings leads the OVC with nine home runs, and he is tied for the top spot with 34 runs batted in, although he ranks first in RBIs per game.

Sunday's 3-for-4 performance that featured five RBIs pushed Cummings' batting average to .307. He leads the OVC in total bases and ranks second with a .644 slugging percentage.

"He's been unbelievable. What a money player," Hogan said.

Cummings blasted a three-run homer in the first inning to put the Redhawks up 4-0. The ball easily cleared the 380-foot sign in left-center field.

After Murray State used a five-run sixth inning to go ahead 6-5, Cummings drilled a leadoff shot well beyond the left-field fence in the bottom of the sixth to make it 6-6.

Southeast scored two more runs in that inning to go ahead 8-6, but the Thoroughbreds again rallied with two in the eighth to forge an 8-8 tie.

Cummings took care of that leading off the bottom of the eighth with his shortest homer of the day, but it was good enough to put the Redhawks on top to stay.

"Tyrell stepped up big for us today," Harris said.

Harris also played a major role in the victory as he went 3-for-4 with three RBIs.

Harris' two-run double in the sixth, after Cummings' second homer, gave Southeast an 8-6 lead.

But perhaps Harris' biggest contribution came on defense.

In the ninth, after Murray State's Brooks Thornton was hit by a pitch with one out, Andrew Cella sent a ball up the middle for what appeared to be a single.

Harris ranged far to his left and fielded the ground ball several feet behind the second-base bag. He flipped a toss behind his back to senior second baseman Zachary Blemker for a force out.

Southeast reliever Todd Strahlendorf then ended things by striking out Kyle Tiernan.

"It was a tough play," said Harris of his fielding gem. "I didn't know if I would get there."

Freshman third baseman Trenton Moses from Advance High School added two of Southeast's 12 hits, after the Redhawks were held to just 11 hits during Saturday's doubleheader.

Junior first baseman Matt Wagner extended his hitting streak to 15 games, the longest for any Southeast player this season.

Strahlendorf, a juco transfer, improved to 2-1 with 1 2/3 innings of shutout relief. He allowed one hit and struck out three.

Starter James Leigh, a junior left-hander who leads the OVC with five wins, retired the first 10 batters before running into trouble during Murray State's five-run sixth.

Juco transfer Jake Kemper worked 2 1/3 innings before Strahlendorf took over.

"He [Strahlendorf] was excellent, and Kemper did enough to get us through," Hogan said.

While the win kept Southeast toward the top of the OVC, it was also a milestone for Hogan, who notched his 400th victory at the university.

Hogan, a Cape Girardeau native and former Southeast player who last year became the winningest baseball coach in school history, is 400-332-1 in his 14th season. He is just the seventh baseball coach in OVC history to reach the 400-win plateau at one school.

"It means a lot. It feels good," Hogan said. "Everybody knows how much I've enjoyed coming back to coach here.

"Now we start for 500 I guess."

Southeast returns to action Tuesday, hosting SIU in a 3 p.m. nonconference game.