'Hawks see SIU scrounge runs, win

~ Southeast lost 8-5 despite having twice as many hits as the Salukis.

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Southeast Missouri State baseball coach Mark Hogan took a quick glance at the box score Tuesday and found it hard to believe the Redhawks had lost.

"None of the numbers add up with the game," Hogan said. "It was pretty odd."

Odd indeed. Despite having 13 hits to just six for Southern Illinois, the visiting Redhawks suffered an 8-5 nonconference loss.

Southeast, which beat SIU 13-11 in Cape Girardeau last week, fell to 12-18. The Salukis are 22-14 following their fourth straight victory.

"We just had trouble bunching things up," Hogan said. "They didn't help us with just two walks and one error. When that happens, you have to bunch your hits up, and we didn't."

On a warm but extremely windy day that made it difficult to generate much power from an offensive standpoint -- winds of up to 30 miles per hour blew virtually straight in toward the hitters most of the day -- the Salukis scratched out enough runs to prevail.

And that was with help from the Redhawks' pitching staff, which walked eight batters. Five of the eight Salukis players who walked scored.

"They created some opportunities for us," SIU coach Dan Callahan said. "It was a tough day to hit. I think there were some balls by both teams that might have been out on a normal day."

The Redhawks actually had one home run. Burly freshman Andrew Graham drilled a line drive through the wind and over the left field fence for a three-run shot that was hit first college homer.

But it came in the top of the ninth inning, after the Salukis had scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth to grab a commanding 8-2 lead.

"He's a guy who will only get better as he goes long," Hogan said of Graham. "He hit that ball right through the teeth of the wind. It was impressive. Not many people could have done that."

Southeast starter Phillip Riley allowed just two hits in five innings, but he walked six, which led to him allowing four runs and taking the loss.

Riley (1-3) retired the first six batters he faced before running into control problems in the third inning. Riley walked four batters to force in a run, gave up a sacrifice fly and then an RBI single by Dean Cademartori.

So with just one hit the Salukis had three runs to wipe out a 2-0 deficit.

Another walk by Riley (1-3) in the fifth inning came around to score on just SIU's second hit of the game, a single by Erik Alvarez.

"It was hard to explain all those walks by Riley," Hogan said. "I know he's disappointed."

Josh Parham worked two hitless innings, meaning the Salukis entered the bottom of the eighth leading 4-2 despite being outhit 11-2.

SIU added plenty of insurance with a four-run eighth against Matt Carter and James Hibbard that featured four hits, a walk and an error.

Graham went 3-for-4 to lead the Redhawks' attack. Daniel Schuh, another freshman, also was 3-for-4. Dustin Pritchett added two hits in two trips to the plate.

Southeast plays another nonconference road game today, visiting Missouri for a 6 p.m. start.

The Redhawks beat the Tigers 3-2 in Cape Girardeau on March 29 on Schuh's walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Left-hander Asif Shah, who pitched six shutout innings against the Tigers (16-14) in that game, is scheduled to start tonight.