Leeper plays all nine positions in Southeast Missouri State baseball loss to Belmont

Hunter Leeper glanced toward left field at the scoreboard at Capaha Field on Saturday afternoon.

The Southeast Missouri State senior had just completed a feat that few have when he played all nine defensive positions in the final regular-season game of his two-year career as a Redhawk.

He expressed it's a game he'll never forget, and he appreciated coach Steve Bieser and his teammates for allowing him to do it, moving all over the place on defense to accommodate for him.

But the entire memory won't be a great one for Leeper as the Belmont Bruins came back in the ninth to defeat Southeast 6-5.

"It's just hard to be extremely excited because we lost," Leeper said.

Southeast Missouri State coach Steve Bieser watches the game with Belmont Saturday, May 21, 2016 at Capaha Field.Fred Lynch

Leeper started the day at catcher before moving from left to right in the outfield over the first four innings. He played first in the fifth, second in the sixth and third in the seventh. He started the eighth at short, but ended up heading back out to left after the Bruins cut it to one and still had two on with no outs.

The righty went out to pitch the ninth with a 5-4 lead and threw a strike before allowing a single up the middle and exiting.

Matthew Wade came in and promptly threw a wild pitch before giving up a game-tying single to pinch hitter Rafael Bournigal.

Bournigal stole second before scoring the winning run on a two-out single up the middle by Hunter Holland.

Bieser admitted there was some hesitation to send Leeper out to the mound in the ninth, but he doesn't regret it.

"We got to that point and I think it was the right thing to do," Bieser said. "I've seen him throw from the mound, and the biggest thing was that I didn't think he was going to walk anyone. And they found a groundball that got through the hole. I thought he was throwing the ball good out there. He had a nice little sinker and a good breaking ball.

"... After he came out we needed to do a better job of heading it off. We immediately throw a wild pitch, and then we also let a guy get a running start on a stolen base -- those things are things that we needed to control. But other than that, I thought we played a really good baseball game today."

Leeper, who entered the game going 2 for his last 12, reached base four times -- twice drawing walks and twice hitting RBI singles.

"Hunter did such a great job of adjusting to every position that he went to, and really I was just impressed with the way that he handled himself today at the plate," Bieser said. "To me that's the most important thing, getting him going at the plate again. He's a guy that when he gets hot, he can carry a team. We've seen him do that in our program before, and the goal is that we need that extra bat to get hot to insert in the lineup and ride the season out."

The Bruins took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second on a solo home run by Clay Payne, but Leeper drew a walk, took second on a wild pitch and scored on an RBI single by Brian Lees to tie it in the home half. Trevor Ezell singled before Chris Osborne doubled in Lees to put the Redhawks up 2-1. Ezell was thrown out at home on the play to end the inning.

Southeast Missouri State's Hunter Leeper singles in a run against Belmont during the third inning Saturday, May 21, 2016 at Capaha Field.Fred Lynch

Belmont knotted it up in the next frame on a throwing error by pitcher Robert Beltran, but Leeper singled in a run in the bottom of the third to make it 3-2.

Branden Boggetto singled in Ezell in the fourth to make it a two-run game.

Leeper plated the Redhawks' final run in the fifth, driving in Holst, who led off with a triple to right, to extend the lead to 5-3.

"I'd say I was definitely a little bit more relaxed, but Coach Bieser's been working with me," Leeper said. "I've kind of been struggling a little bit, and finally today we saw the outcome come out a little different with me swinging the stick. And I felt pretty good about it."

Osborne went 3-for-5 at the plate to pace Southeast, which finished with 11 hits. He doubled in the sixth but was stranded. He singled and Boggetto drew a walk with one out in the eighth, but both were left on base. Leeper and Andy Lack were walked in the seventh, but the Redhawks couldn't drive them in.

Southeast, which left 12 on base in the game, also stranded the bases loaded in the first and left a runner on base in each inning but the bottom of the ninth.

"We've just got to keep focusing on every pitch, every game; come up with a few more clutch hits and we'll pull through," Osborne said. "That was the big difference today."

Belmont (31-25, 17-13 Ohio Valley Conference) scattered 12 hits in the contest. The Redhawks escaped a couple of situations with their leads intact thanks to their defense and pitchers bearing down.

Beltran struck out the Bruins' No. 3 and 4 hitters, Tyler Fullerton and Brennan Washington, to strand runners in scoring position with the game tied in the third.

Southeast Missouri State catcher Brian Lees tags Belmont baserunner Chas Hadden who was called out during the fifth inning Saturday, May 21, 2016 at Capaha Field.Fred Lynch

After allowing a leadoff double and single, Beltran again fanned Fullerton and Washington in the fifth. He allowed an RBI single up the middle to cut Southeast's lead to 4-3, but the Redhawks escaped the inning after left fielder Garrett Gandolfo got the ball in to Lack to gun down the tying run at home to retire the side.

Beltran (8-1) took the no decision after allowing three earned runs on seven hits with a walk and five strikeouts.

"I think the frustrating part was him getting to that point because I've seen our guys do that a little bit where they kind of just try to cruise through the situation, and then when it gets tough, they bear down," Bieser said. "We just need to make sure that when we step out there on that mound that we're bearing down on every hitter. We can't take anybody lightly.

"We put ourselves in that situation and then have to deal with their big guys. We did a pretty good job against their 3, 4 guys, but their five guy [Payne] killed us all series."

Belmont got runners on second in the sixth and seventh innings off reliever Jake Busiek. Busiek issued a leadoff walk and hit a batter before exiting in the eighth for Alex Siddle.

Siddle gave up a single through the right that pulled the Bruins within one before the Redhawks turned a 4-6-3 inning-ending double play.

"I think our defense is starting to gain some confidence and play pretty well," Bieser said. "We've made plays in situations where there was some pressure there."

The OVC champion Redhawks (35-18, 22-8 OVC) enter next week's OVC tournament as the No. 1 seed. They receive a first-round bye and will player the worst seed of the winners of Games 1 and 2 at 7 p.m. Thursday at The Ballpark in Jackson, Tennessee.

"We know we have a big opportunity to do big things with this team," Leeper said, "and we're pretty excited."