Redhawks drop opener at Arkansas State

JONESBORO, Ark. -- The Southeast Missouri State baseball team was on the verge of winning its season opener Wednesday afternoon.

But host Arkansas State had other ideas.

The Indians pushed across three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to defeat the Redhawks 4-3.

ASU (2-0) used two doubles and two singles in the eighth against Southeast reliever Jamie McAlister to wipe out a 3-1 Redhawks' lead.

Southeast received a strong starting pitching performance from senior right-hander Anthony Maupin, who missed most of last season with a shoulder injury after leading the team in wins in 2004.

Maupin worked six innings, allowing one run and seven hits with no walks and two strikeouts. He left with a 3-1 lead after throwing 84 pitches.

McAlister, a senior right-hander who was scheduled to start Friday when Southeast begins a three-game series at McNeese State, pitched a scoreless seventh inning to preserve the Redhawks' 3-1 advantage.

Things then unraveled in the eighth. Hudson Smart led off with a double. McAlister retired the next batter, but Kevin Kull's single drove in Smart.

McAlister retired the next batter, but the Indians rallied with two outs. A single by Tyler Doke sent Kull to third. Todd Boucher then doubled to left-center, with Kull and Doke both scoring to put ASU on top.

Southeast appeared to have a chance to nail Doke at the plate, but freshman center fielder Daniel Schuh overthrew the cutoff man. Junior left-hander Josh Parham relieved McAlister and recorded the final out of the inning.

ASU grabbed a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning, but Southeast forged ahead with a two-run fifth.

Junior left fielder Brent Lawson, junior third baseman Phillip Riley and freshman first baseman Aaron Rave all walked to load the bases with one out. Schuh delivered a single that scored both Lawson and Riley.

The Redhawks made it 3-1 in the sixth as sophomore designated hitter Jim Clayton singled with two outs to score junior catcher Quenten Rouse, who had walked.

That's the way things stood until the eighth, when the Indians rallied.

ASU had 12 hits compared to just four for Southeast, and the Indians had five doubles to no extra-base hits for the Redhawks. Southeast made no errors, compared to two for ASU.