MARTIN, Tenn. -- A recent van crash may have sidelined eight Tennessee-Martin baseball players and their coach, but it did not effect the Skyhawks' heart.
What appeared to possibly be an easy Ohio Valley Conference weekend series for second-place Southeast Missouri State University turned into a couple of nail-biters in a sweep of the host Skyhawks.
Southeast won the opener 8-7 in eight innings before taking the nightcap 8-5.
The victories improved Southeast to 22-10 overall and 8-2 in the OVC. UTM, 0-10 in the OVC, dropped to 7-28 overall.
The Skyhawks appeared to be on the verge of their first OVC victory in the opener with the bases loaded and nobody out in the bottom of the seventh inning of a 7-7 tie.
UTM had loaded the bases against Southeast relief ace Jeffrey Hilz on a hit batsman, followed by two walks, one which was intentional.
Hilz then wiggled off the hook. He fielded a comebacker from Troy Crawford for a force at home, and first baseman Darin Kinsolving did the same on a grounder from Casey Bevis.
Kelly Davis then put a controversial end to the inning when he hit a slow roller to second baseman Clemente Bonilla, who threw to first. However, Davis never ran on the play, contending the ball hit his foot in the batters' box and should have been ruled dead. The Skyhawks lost the argument and the game in the next inning.
In the eighth, Southeast's Denver Stuckey drew a leadoff walk from Brian Washburn and later came around to score. Kevin Meyer sacrificed bunted Stuckey to second and Charlie Marino followed with his third hit of the game, an RBI double.
Hilz retired UTM in order in the bottom of the inning, getting two Skyhawks on called third strikes.
Hilz, who followed Dan Huesgen and Andy Davidson to the mound, pitched 2 1/3 innings in improving to 6-1. He allowed two of the Skyhawks' five hits.
Southeast took a 1-0 lead in the first inning and added three runs in the third with the help of back-to-back home runs by Meyer and Marino. Southeast extended its lead to 7-0 with three more runs in the fourth.
UTM then tied the game with three runs in the fourth, one in the fifth and three in the sixth.
Southeast finished with eight hits. Zach Borowiak also finished with three hits for the Indians.
Meyer led off the second game with a home run for a 1-0 Indian lead, but UTM countered with six consecutive hits in the home half of the inning to build a 4-1 lead.
Southeast tied the score in the second inning on a three-run homer by Marino, who went 3-for-4 with four RBIs. He finished the day with six hits, six RBIs and two homers, giving him nine on the season and tying him with Kinsolving for the team lead.
Shane Allen put Southeast ahead 5-4 in the third inning with an RBI single. The Indians added two runs in the sixth and one in the seventh.
After a shaky first inning, Southeast starter Lanson Debrock settled down and went the distance. DeBrock (7-3) scattered six hits after the first inning and struck out five.
Josh Carter (1-8) suffered the loss for UTM. Southeast had 13 hits on the game as Meyer, Marino and Kinsolving all went 3-for-4.
Meyer had five hits on the day.
The teams will close out their three-game weekend series with a 1 p.m. single contest today.
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