Parmley's hitting streak ends at 47 games in Southeast Missouri State's baseball victory

Kenton Parmley's historic hitting streak came to an end Sunday.

But Parmley found no reason to sulk. He was in a good mood because Southeast Missouri State finally notched its first Ohio Valley Conference series win of the season.

"I'd take an 0-fer every day if we win. Winning is more important than individual accomplishments," said Parmley, Southeast's senior shortstop. "I'm glad we got the win. I couldn't be happier."

The Redhawks largely have Dylan Lynn to thank after his brilliant pitching led Southeast past visiting Tennessee Tech 3-1.

Lynn, whose previous longest outing had been four innings, worked all nine to help the Redhawks take two of three in the series.

Southeast Missouri State players congratulate Derek Gibson after he scored on a sacrifice fly during the fifth inning Sunday at Capaha Field. Southeast defeated Tennessee Tech 3-1. (Laura Simon)

"He was unbelievable," Southeast All-American senior third baseman Trenton Moses said. "It feels great to win a series. It only seems fitting when you have a performance like that from Dylan."

Southeast (14-27, 5-10), which began the weekend in the OVC basement, moved up to an eighth-place tie in the 10-team league. Tech (17-22, 7-8) is in sixth place.

The Redhawks, who had lost their first four conference series, won for the sixth time in nine games. They previously had dropped 14 of 15.

"We've been playing better," Moses said. "It's a step in the right direction. Let's hope it gets us going."

Parmley, who had hit safely in 47 consecutive games, went 0 for 3. He was hit by a pitch in the first inning to extend his streak of reaching base safely to 57 games.

Southeast Missouri State starter Dylan Lynn delivers a pitch to a Tennessee Tech batter during the fifth inning. Lynn pitched the Redhawks’ first complete game of the season.

Parmley reached on a fielder's choice in the second inning, flew out to center field in both the fourth and seventh innings.

The hitting streak tied for the third-longest in NCAA Division I history.

"It was definitely an honor to have that kind of streak," said Parmley, who is still batting .410. "I'm blessed."

Former major league star and current Chicago White Sox manager Robin Ventura set the record with a 58-game hitting streak for Oklahoma State in 1987.

The only other Division I streak longer than Parmley's is 56 by Florida International's Garrett Wittels that ended in 2011.

"We were lucky to watch a streak like that," Southeast coach Mark Hogan said. "What a great run. It was so impressive."

The most impressive player on the field Sunday was Lynn, a junior college transfer right-hander making his first OVC start after Hogan shuffled his pitching rotation for the weekend.

Lynn (3-0) was in total control throughout. He allowed six hits, walked two and struck out eight. He threw 154 pitches and still appeared to be as strong during the ninth inning as he was much earlier.

"Down in the bullpen I was a little worried. I didn't think I had my stuff," said Lynn, a native of Campbell, Mo., who pitched at Three Rivers College in Poplar Bluff, Mo., last year. "But it clicked."

Lynn kept the heavy-hitting Eagles off-balance with a biting slider and fastball.

"I was able to pitch where I wanted," said Lynn, making his third start for the Redhawks.

Lynn was strong in his previous start, going four innings against SIU Carbondale during a 4-1 win April 10. That outing influenced Hogan to start Lynn against the Eagles.

"It was a tremendous performance at just the right time," Hogan said. "It seemed like he got stronger as the game went on. He was in complete control."

Lynn nearly had a shutout in Southeast's longest outing of the season.

Tech's only run came after it appeared the Redhawks had turned a double play to end the sixth inning. The batter was ruled safe at first base, and the Eagles scored right after that.

"I felt we should have gotten that one," Lynn said.

Tech true freshman right-hander David Hess nearly was as good as Lynn.

Hess (2-4) also went the distance, allowing five hits and two earned runs. He struck out 10 and walked one.

"It was a great pitcher's duel. It's very unusual to see two complete games," Hogan said. "Hess threw a fabulous game. We scratched out a few hits."

Senior second baseman Taylor Heon's RBI single in the second inning, which came after an error to make the run unearned, staked Southeast to a 1-0 lead.

Senior catcher Jesse Tierney's plated Moses with a sacrfice fly for a 2-0 advantage in the third inning. Moses had singled and moved to third on a single by senior first baseman Kody Campbell.

Sophomore left fielder Derek Gibson led off the fifth inning with a triple and scored on Moses' sacrifice fly to make it 3-0.

Lynn and Southeast's defense did the rest. Moses made two dazzling plays on ground balls and also leaped high to snare a line drive with two on and two outs in the third inning.

Gibson made a sliding catch for the first out of the ninth inning. A single followed, but Lynn retired the next two batters to finish off the victory.

"Moses made some plays that were spectacular and probably saved the day. Gibson's catch was big," Hogan said. "Every play today was very important because of the score of the game. It was a great win for us."

Moses, batting .422, extended his school-record streak of reaching base safely to 61 games. Neither the OVC nor NCAA keeps a record for that category.

Gibson extended his hitting streak to 25 games.

Southeast returns to action at 3 p.m. Tuesday with a nonconference matchup at SIU Carbondale.