Notre Dame baseball team rides homers past Dexter in SEMO Conference tourney semifinal

Notre Dame senior Cody Heisserer had a couple extra motivations when he walked up to the plate with the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth inning Saturday.

He was happy to help his team record a 10-9 win over Dexter on its home field to advance to the championship game of the SEMO Conference baseball tournament, but he also wanted to earn a free lunch and avoid his first loss of the season.

The Bulldogs trailed 9-5 when Heisserer stepped in.

"I walked up to the batter's box and I heard my mom yell at me, 'Get me a hit, and I'll buy you lunch,'" Heisserer said. "And so I just tried to connect on a fastball."

Heisserer crushed the first pitch, and he had plenty of time to start thinking about his restaurant of choice as he rounded the bases for a grand slam.

Notre Dame shortstop Justin Landewee throws to first base after forcing out Dexter's Alex Cliff at second base during the second inning Saturday.

He eventually settled on El Torero.

"I was just talking to her about it," Heisserer said after the game. "She goes, 'All right, I'll buy you El Torero's now after that.'"

Notre Dame's Jesse Schott followed Heisserer's slam with his second home run of the game to give the Bulldogs the lead and eventually the victory.

"I had a lot of adrenaline pumping, and I just tried to calm myself down," Schott said. "I said, 'Just hit it. Don't try to do too much with it.'"

Schott's first homer of the day, a two-run shot in the first inning, helped give Heisserer a 3-0 lead before he took the mound as Notre Dame's starting pitcher.

Notre Dame closer Jonathan Lynch pitches to a Dexter batter during the seventh inning in the SEMO Conference tournament Saturday, April 28, 2012 at Notre Dame Regional High School. (Fred Lynch)

"I think it was a fastball," Schott said. "I just tried to hit it, tried to keep it simple and just hit the ball."

Schott went 4 for 4 with four RBIs. He had a double and a single to go along with his two homers.

"I'm trying to get out of a slump that I've had for a while now," Schott said. "I'm trying to simplify everything down to just hit the ball. That's about it right now. Just hit the ball."

Schott also hit a home run in Notre Dame's run-rule win over New Madrid County Central on Friday.

"In Jesse's mind, he's probably been in a slump," Notre Dame coach Jeff Graviett said. "He's been real close to breaking it out -- definitely a power slump. He came out the first game and kind of put on a show and probably had expectations of doing that every game. He learned it doesn't happen like that, but the last two or three games he's really had some good quality at-bats."

Schott was hesitant to say that his slump was over after Saturday's breakout.

"I'm a little superstitious for that," he said.

Heisserer, Notre Dame's ace for a second season in a row, allowed just an infield single in the first inning but struggled with his control.

He hit a batter and walked in a run in the second inning before walking three and hitting two more in a six-run third inning for Dexter, which was aided by a Notre Dame error.

"It wasn't pretty," Heisserer said. "I didn't have all my pitches. My arm was dropping down, which I was throwing across my body and getting all twisted up. It just wasn't a good day."

Heisserer was relieved by Justin Landewee with two outs in the third.

"My fastball hit the backstop a couple times, in the dirt," Heisserer said. "Changeup was running down. Cutter was running away a lot. That was pretty much all I threw."

Dexter starter Brad Potts allowed five runs, three earned, over the first three innings before being removed after walking a batter with one out in the bottom of the sixth.

"You've got to throw down in the zone and stop throwing belt high," Potts said about how he kept the Notre Dame offense in check later in the game. "They couldn't hit the knee-high pitches. I just got my curveball down and got the fastball outside."

Dexter reliever Jordan Miller walked both batters he faced and was replaced by Josh Overall, who gave up both Notre Dame home runs in the inning.

Heisserer got himself off the hook for the loss with his grand slam to keep his record flawless this season.

"I didn't want a loss," he said with a smile. "I wanted to stay perfect, and thank goodness we didn't lose."

Notre Dame (16-2) will play Jackson in the championship game at 7 p.m. Monday at Capaha Field.

"That's exciting," Schott said. "We've been talking about that for a while now. As soon as we got past that last tournament, that's all we've been talking about. Game by game, getting to that championship. We want to play at Capaha. We want to be part of that big game, that big crowd. It's very exciting for us."

Dexter 016 020 0 -- 9 11 2

Notre Dame 302 005 x -- 10 11 1

WP -- Jonathan Lynch. LP -- Josh Overall. HR -- Jesse Schott 2 (ND), Cody Heisserer (ND). 3B -- Brad Potts (D). 2B -- Justin Landewee (ND), Schott (ND). Multiple hits -- Dexter: Potts 2-5, Chase Young 3-4, D.J. Dowdy 2-4, Overall 2-4; Notre Dame: Landewee 2-3, Schott 4-4, Josh Haggerty 2-3.