Notre Dame baseball team turns thriller vs. Sikeston into rout

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Through four innings, Tuesday's baseball game between Sikeston and Notre Dame had all the makings of a typical classic between the two rivals.

But Notre Dame was not interested in posterity.

With Sikeston nursing a 1-0 lead, Notre Dame erupted for 10 runs over the fifth and sixth innings to dispel any notion of a thriller, defeating Sikeston 10-1 at VFW Stadium.

Notre Dame improved to 19-3 and snapped a nine-game winning streak for Sikeston, which was stifled by Bulldogs ace Justin Landewee.

Sikeston was limited to just six hits and one walk by Landewee, who struck out four in going the distance.

"Landewee is not one of the best around for nothing," Sikeston coach Alan Scheeter said. "To beat a good pitcher like that you're going to need more than just one run. You've got to scratch and claw and find some way to get runners on base. We put the ball in play -- he only had four strikeouts -- but that's why they're a good team because they made plays behind him. Notre Dame didn't give us anything today. They came out and executed every phase of the game well."

Sikeston's Tyler Anderson lofted a home run over the left field fence for a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third.

"That was big for us," Scheeter said about Anderson's home run. "We had two outs at the time and he had two strikes on him. Landewee had been throwing a lot of curveballs in a fastball count, and he just sat on a curveball and got the pitch he wanted and he got it up and hit it well."

Notre Dame coach Jeff Graviett took blame for Anderson's homer.

"I got on [Landewee] in the first inning for not coming right after Tyler in his first at-bat because I feel like Sikeston's lineup is good enough that we can't give them any free bases," Graviett said. "You've got to make them earn everything. The second time he went after Tyler, and he paid for it."

Sikeston led 1-0 through four innings behind pitcher Jarett Sandlin, who had struck out seven without allowing a hit. Notre Dame's only two baserunners had reached on errors.

But the Bulldogs came alive in the top of the fifth. Cody DeBrock got things started with a one-out double off the right-center field fence.

No. 9 hitter Griffin Siebert singled home DeBrock to tie the game at 1-1. Siebert advanced to second on the throw home, and he later scored on Chase Urhahn's single to center field for a 2-1 lead.

Urhahn advanced to second on the throw home, and he later scored on pair of wild pitches for a 3-1 lead.

Notre Dame put the game away in the sixth with seven runs. The big hits were a two-run double by Luke Haines and run-scoring double by DeBrock.

Notre Dame was limited to six hits, but Sikeston's five errors proved costly.

"Sandlin was throwing the ball tremendously well," Graviett said. "It was a 1-0 game, and I'm trying to figure out how we're going to scratch one across and maybe a second one to get it. Once we locked in at the plate and caught a few breaks, it just opened up."

Notre Dame 000 037 0 -- 10 6 0

Sikeston 001 000 0 -- 1 6 5

WP -- Justin Landewee. LP -- Jarett Sandlin. Multiple hitters: Cody Debrock (ND) 2-4; Trey Tigart (S) 2-3. HR -- Tyler Anderson (S). 2B: Debrock (ND) 2, Luke Haines (ND), Drew Harper (S), Cord Sheehy (S). Records: Notre Dame 19-3