'Hawks wield bats, brooms

~ Southeast won 9-5 and completed a sweep in its first home series.

After two narrow wins over Jackson State on Saturday, Southeast Missouri State had a little more breathing room in completing a home-opening series sweep.

The Redhawks banged out 11 hits and took advantage of more JSU wildness to post a 9-5 victory at Capaha Field Sunday afternoon.

Southeast, which swept Saturday's doubleheader 7-5 and 8-7, is above the .500 mark for the first time this season at 4-3. The Tigers are 4-6.

"It was a good weekend for us, to get three games in and to win all of them," Southeast coach Mark Hogan said. "I was really impressed with us today."

Outside of three errors in the field, which raised Southeast's total to eight for the series, the Redhawks did little wrong.

"It's still early and I still see some nerves," Hogan said. "We kicked the ball around too much. We're still putting the pieces together. But I saw a lot of good things, and I like the makeup of this club."

JSU pitchers, after issuing 15 walks Saturday, gave Southeast eight more free passes Sunday. Along with the 11 hits, that provided the Redhawks plenty of opportunities.

"We hit a lot of balls hard today, and we had some key hits," Hogan said. "It was a good day overall offensively."

With 27 hits in the series, the Redhawks elevated what had been a .209 team batting average to .263.

Right fielder Asif Shah, a junior college transfer who is one of many new position regulars for the Redhawks, tripled, doubled and singled Sunday. His 3-for-5 performance included three runs batted in and two runs scored.

Shah was 5-for-8 in the series, with five RBIs and four runs scored. He is batting .348 so far.

"He's a good hitter," Hogan said. "We see that in practice all the time."

Freshman center fielder Daniel Schuh went 2-for-5 with a double. He's hitting .333.

Another freshman, first baseman Aaron Rave, had four hits in the series, although he was officially 0-for-1 Sunday as he walked three times. Rave is batting .476 with a team-high eight RBIs.

"Our new guys are going to have to hit well, because we're full of new guys," Hogan said.

Senior catcher Levi Olson, a returning player, saw his first action of the season and went 2-for-3 with two runs scored, while making several strong defensive plays.

Olson, who did the bulk of the catching last year, is battling two others for playing time at that position.

"It's nice to contribute like this, and it was a good weekend for us," Olson said. "We've got a whole lot of talent. A lot of the guys haven't played Division I ball, but they're all going to get better."

Another returning senior, shortstop Jordan Payne, added two RBIs.

On the mound, one of the Redhawks' three veteran starting pitchers led the way.

Senior right-hander Jamie McAlister, who entered the contest with an 0-2 record and a 12.60 earned-run average, was sharp over seven inning to notch his first victory. He allowed six hits and two earned runs, with eight strikeouts and no walks.

"I thought Jamie threw well," Hogan said. "It was good to get him going."

Said McAlister, "I felt better. It was a little embarrassing to run out there in your senior year in the first home series 0-2."

Like Olson, McAlister believes the inexperienced Redhawks have plenty of potential.

"We have a lot of talent," McAlister said. "It's nice to get above .500, and hopefully we can keep it going."

Junior Brent Lawson worked a scoreless eighth inning, while Schuh allowed a run in the ninth inning.

The Tigers, who led the nation in runs scored last year, had nine hits, including the only home run of the series, a solo blast by Anthony McLin off McAlister in the sixth inning. But that shot only brought JSU within 8-4.

JSU shortstop Joaquin Rodriguez had a big weekend, going 7-for-13 with eight RBIs.

"They've got some guys who can swing the bats, and they can run," Hogan said.

The Tigers took their only lead of the day with a three-run third that made it 3-1. Two of the runs were unearned.

Southeast went ahead for good with a three-run bottom of the third. Schuh had an RBI double, returning senior outfielder Chris Gibson drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, and Payne put the Redhawks up with an RBI single.

The Redhawks steadily pulled away, as they led 8-3 after five innings and coasted to the victory.

Southeast visits Evansville Wednesday for a 3 p.m. first pitch, after which the Redhawks will have seven consecutive home games.