Redhawks duo fires one-hitter in 5-0 win

~ Southeast defeated Freed-Hardeman for its ninth victory in 10 games.

Freed-Hardeman entered Tuesday's baseball game at Capaha Field with a collective .304 batting average.

But the Lions' offense was no match for Southeast Missouri State's one-two punch of Phillip Riley and Ivan Nails.

Riley and Nails combined on a one-hitter as the Redhawks continued to roll with a 5-0 victory.

Southeast, after opening Ohio Valley Conference play over the weekend with a three-game sweep of Tennessee-Martin, stepped out of the league to win for the ninth time in its last 10 games.

The Redhawks improved to 16-7, while NAIA Freed-Hardeman fell to 19-16. The squads play again at 3 p.m. today.

"We played well," said Southeast coach Mark Hogan, who posted his 371st win in his 13th season at Southeast.

Hogan moved within two victories of tying the late Joe Uhls as the all-time winningest coach in program history:

"This club is very grounded and has played hard all year," Hogan added. "It's a great feeling for me."

Riley and Nails certainly felt good on the mound, as they combined for Southeast's first one-hitter since 2002 and lowered the Redhawks' OVC-leading earned-run average to a stingy 3.42.

Riley, a senior right-hander, went the first five innings and allowed the only hit, a clean single to right field with two outs in the first inning.

In improving his record to 4-1 with his fourth consecutive victory, Riley moved into a tie for the OVC wins lead, a spot also shared by Southeast freshman Josh Syberg.

"I've been feeling really good lately," said Riley, who struck out three and walked one as he lowered his ERA to 1.96.

Riley has settled into the role of Southeast's top mid-week starter, but he is certainly pushing to break into the weekend rotation for conference play.

The only problem is, Southeast's primary weekend starters -- Dustin Renfrow, Asif Shah and Syberg, who are a combined 8-1 with no ERA higher than 2.67 -- have performed so well, they have not allowed Riley to enter the mix.

Hogan figures that's a good dilemma for any coach to deal with.

"He's making it very tempting, because he's throwing so well," Hogan said. "But it works out perfect this way, because he threw about 70 pitches and he'll be ready to go this weekend if we need him."

Riley knows he could be called upon at any time in conference play and figures to be prepared if that need arises.

"The starters have done really good on weekends, but I try to get in a good five, six innings during the week and be ready for the weekend," Riley said.

Nails, a junior right-hander in his first season at Southeast after transferring from junior college, notched his third save by working the last four innings.

Nails, who has been solid out of the bullpen all year, also fanned three and walked one. His ERA is 2.20.

"I think we both felt pretty good," Riley said.

Hogan said both Riley and Nails were consistently clocked at around 90 miles per hour on the club's radar gun.

"They both threw lights out against a good-hitting club." Hogan said. "And it worked out perfect with the pitch count. They both should be strong for this weekend."

Southeast, which led just 2-0 through six innings, finished with nine hits.

Senior Omar Padilla, sophomore Daniel Schuh and freshman Jim Klocke all had two hits, while sophomore Matt Wagner belted his second home run in two games, a solo shot in the eighth inning.

"It feels good to keep winning," said Padilla, the Redhawks' all-OVC second baseman. "We just want to continue playing good baseball and keep it going."

Senior Robby Moore extended his hitting streak to a team-best eight games, while freshman Nick Harris is on a seven-game hitting streak and Klocke has hit safely in six straight contests.

Southeast broke on top with a first-inning run as Padilla led off with a double and scored on a one-out single by Harris.

With Riley and Nails dominating, that was all the Redhawks needed, although they added single runs in the fifth and seventh before plating two in the eighth.

"Everything is falling into place for us right now," Padilla said. "We just need to keep it up."