Parmley, Moses break Southeast Missouri State baseball records in loss to EIU

The Southeast Missouri State baseball team, one day after breaking its school-record 10-game losing streak, failed to put together a two-game winning streak.

Host Eastern Illinois sent the Redhawks to their 17th defeat in their past 20 contests with Sunday's 10-0 romp in Charleston, Ill.

The triumph allowed EIU (11-14, 3-3) to win the three-game Ohio Valley Conference series.

Southeast (8-21, 1-5) lost Friday's opener 5-1 before taking Saturday's contest 12-5.

But the news was not all gloomy for the Redhawks.

Senior standouts Kenton Parmley and Trenton Moses broke notable school records.

Parmley singled in in the eighth inning to extend his hitting streak to 36 games dating back to last year.

Parmley broke the record he had shared with former major-leaguer Kerry Robinson, who compiled his 35-game hitting streak in 1995.

"It's exciting. He's one of SEMO's all-time greats," Parmley said. "I'll remember it for the rest of my life. It's a big honor, but it would have been a lot nicer coming in a win."

The hit came in Parmley's final at-bat.

"I was kind of feeling the pressure a little bit," Parmley said. "People were saying you have to get a hit."

As for how long he might be able to continue the streak, Parmley said that's not at the top of his priority list.

"The goal is first and foremost to get a win. The other stuff comes secondary," said Parmley, who has also reached base safely in 45 consecutive games.

Moses had a sixth-inning single to extend his streak of reaching base safely to 49 consecutive games dating back to last year.

Moses broke the record he had shared with Eric Horstman, who reached base safely in 48 consecutive games in 2005.

"It's pretty cool. It's a big honor to be a part of that, and me and Kenton both doing it on the same day is pretty special," Moses said. "It would have been better to come in a win, but you take what you can get."

Moses, an All-American who entered the weekend leading the OVC in most of the major offensive categories, said he still believes the Redhawks can turn things around.

"Yesterday we showed a lot of fight. We came out flat today and it was really frustrating," said Moses, who has hit safely in 27 of 29 games this season. "But we've only played six [of 27] conference games. I've been saying it all year, we've got to stay positive. That's all we can do."

Besides the accomplishments of Parmley and Moses, little went right for the Redhawks on Sunday.

Southeast was dominated for the second time in three days by a pitching staff that leads the OVC and ranks among the national leaders with a 2.76 ERA.

EIU, which entered the series with an OVC-worst .233 batting average, outhit Southeast 33-17, including 9-5 on Sunday. The Redhawks took advantage of eight unearned runs Saturday to salvage one win.

The Panthers wasted little time establishing control Sunday.

Southeast junior college transfer left-hander Ryan Kendall walked the first batter he faced and hit the next batter.

After a sacrifice, T.J. McManus belted a three-run homer. EIU added one more run in the frame to lead 4-0 after one inning.

EIU made it 6-0 in the third inning, scoring twice without the benefit of a hit. Two errors resulted in both runs being unearned.

McManus added his second home run of the season with a solo blast in the fifth inning to put the Panthers up 7-0.

The Panthers made it 9-0 in the sixth inning and rounded out the scoring in the eighth inning on Ben Thoma's third homer of the series.

Southeast had just one good scoring opportunity in the sixth inning. Moses singled with two outs and went to third on a double by sophomore Derek Gibson, his second hit of the day, but the Redhawks failed to score.

Troy Barton, one of three EIU starters who rank among the OVC leaders in ERA, went seven innings.

Barton, who improved to 4-2 and lowered his ERA to 1.72, allowed four hits. He struck out seven and walked two.

"He was pretty good," Moses said. "He threw strikes."

Kendall (0-2) took the loss, allowing seven runs (five earned) and five hits in five innings. He struck out two, walked two and hit one.

Southeast is back in action Tuesday, hosting NAIA Mid-Content in a 4 p.m. first pitch.