Notre Dame baseball reaches title game of SEMO Conference tournament

For most of Saturday's SEMO Conference tournament baseball semifinal, Sikeston's Jacob Clark had Notre Dame's batters in his hip pocket.

But when the Bulldogs needed a rally in the late innings, they were able to scratch out just enough against the big right-hander to claw out a 3-2 victory to earn a spot in Monday's tournament final.

Adam Pope's infield groundout in the bottom of the seventh drove in the game-tying run, and Luke Haines' two-out, walk-off single in the bottom of the eighth scored Josh Haggerty with the winning run as the host and top-seeded Bulldogs improved to 20-2 with the heart-pounding win on their home field.

"Whenever we're behind, we know we can hit around here," said Haggerty, whose one-out single to center started the game-winning rally. "We always feel like we can come back, and if we just get the ball in play, good things happen."

Notre Dame will face No. 3 Kennett in the championship game at 7 p.m. Monday at Capaha Field. The Indians defeated No. 2 Poplar Bluff 4-3 in the other semifinal.

Notre Dame third baseman Adam Pope throws Sikeston’s Luke Haines out at second base during the first inning of their semifinal game in the SEMO Conference tournament Saturday at Notre Dame Regional High School. Notre Dame won 3-2 in eight innings to reach Monday’s championship game. (Adam Vogler)

Shortstop Griffin Siebert started Notre Dame's seventh-inning rally with a single. He went to second on Josh Jansen's single to right and took third when Sikeston's right fielder misplayed the ball. From there, Siebert scored on Pope's grounder to second.

"I was just trying to get on base," Siebert said. "We needed a runner on with no outs. Just trying to get on, help our team out. I was just trying to get to third, so then anything in play, I can score."

Clark averted further damage by striking out the final two batters of the inning. Then in the eighth, after Haggerty reached base, Chase Urhahn grounded a single to right, Haggerty barely beating the throw to third. Urhahn was caught trying to reach second base on the throw and was tagged out in a rundown for the inning's second out, setting the stage for Haines' hit.

"He was cutting me off inside with fastballs all day," Haines said. "I was just trying to get my hands back and throw something out there to score a run."

The fact the Bulldogs nearly ran themselves out of the inning was of some concern to Bulldogs coach Jeff Graviett.

"We preach aggressiveness, and we probably got a little over-aggressive on the bases today," Graviett said. "Mentally, it didn't seem like we were in it too much on the bases today, but ultimately, in the end, you find a way to win."

Clark spotted Notre Dame a first-inning run as Haggerty doubled, took third on a wild pitch and scored on Haines' infield groundout. But after Haggerty's hit, Clark set down 14 batters in a row before pinch-hitter Dean Crippen laced a two-out single to center in the fifth. Hunter Eftink followed with a walk, but Clark got out of the jam when Logan Heisserer grounded into a fielder's choice.

By that time, Sikeston (10-8) held a 2-1 lead as Colton Black smashed run-scoring triples in both the first and third innings off Haggerty, who started on the mound for the Bulldogs. Haggerty went four innings, allowing two runs -- one earned -- on four hits, walking one and striking out seven before giving way to Graham Ruopp, who pitched two-hit, shutout ball over the final four frames in getting the win in relief.

"I thought Haggerty was a good matchup for them with his off-speed stuff," Graviett said about his decision to start the senior left-hander.

"He got a little fatigued early, and I kind of figured we were going to have to split two guys today. And I wanted to bring in Graham at the end to close it, but we ended up throwing him a little bit more than we wanted to. But you got to do what you have to do to win."

Ruopp was ready, and his ability to keep Notre Dame close was a crucial part of the win.

"He's been phenomenal for us the last two weeks," Graviett said. "He's really solidified himself as the ace of our staff. He really stepped it up in a big pressure spot today and came through."

No Sikeston player got past second base over the final five innings.

"I just thought I needed to get the job done," Ruopp said. "Try to get three up, three down. I knew I had my team behind me to help me out. Definitely didn't think I was going to be pitching that many [innings], but it happens."

Sikeston had a chance to go ahead in the top of the eighth after Colton Hampton singled with one out and Black was hit by a pitch, putting runners at first and second. But they were stranded as Ruopp got Adam Kennard to fly out to short center, then made a nice grab on Sam Cox's shot up the middle and threw out Cox at first to end the threat.

Clark went the distance for fourth-seeded Sikeston, allowing three runs -- two earned -- on eight hits while walking one and striking out six.

"That's as well as I've ever seen him throw," Sikeston coach Alan Sheeter said. "He was spotting at least three pitches today really well."

Clark's sweeping curve had Notre Dame's hitters off-balance for most of the game, though the Bulldogs were able to get to him late.

"Once they got through the lineup three times, or the fourth time through, they had seen pretty much every pitch that he had," Sheeter said. "They didn't crush the ball there late, but they hit it where we weren't, and that's all that they needed."

Sikeston 101 000 00 -- 2 6 1

Notre Dame 100 000 11 -- 3 8 1

WP -- Graham Ruopp. LP -- Jacob Clark. 2B -- Blake Wolferding (S), Adam Kannard (S), Josh Haggerty (ND). 3B -- Colton Black 2 (S). Multiple hits -- Sikeston: Black 2-3. Notre Dame: Haggerty 2-4, Chase Urhahn 2-4. Records: Sikeston 10-8, Notre Dame 20-2.