SEMO baseball avoids sweep with Sunday blowout

Entering the weekend, the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks were 5-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference.

Squaring off with a fellow OVC contender in the Little Rock Trojans, the Redhawks dropped the series but salvaged the weekend with a big 16-3 win on Sunday.

__Game 1: Little Rock 8, SEMO 2__

In game one of the series, the Redhawks' offense was neutralized by perhaps the top pitcher in the OVC in Hoss Brewer.

Brewer was outstanding, tossing a complete game allowing two runs on six hits while striking out 11 Redhawks.

The Redhawks handed the ball to Haden Dow, who after a rough first inning, settled in to give the Redhawks 4.1 innings pitched.

Dow allowed five runs in the bottom of the first as the Redhawks found themselves in a hole almost instantly after failing to score in the top of the first.

Trailing 5-0 after the first, the Redhawks needed to chip away and Ty Stauss did his part, launching a solo home run to right field to cut the Little Rock lead to 5-1.

After six runs combined between the two clubs in just two innings, the offense seemingly evaporated until the sixth inning.

With Dowd’s day done after tossing 4.1 innings allowing five runs on eight hits, Redhawks coach Andy Sawyers handed the ball to Gavin Johnston.

It was Johnston on the hill in the bottom of the sixth when the Trojans pushed across a run via error to make it 6-1.

A wild pitch in the seventh and a double in the eighth scored two more runs as the Redhawks found themselves down 8-1.

With Hoss Brewer mowing down the Redhawks batters, Ben Palmer launched a solo home run to make it 8-2, the eventual final.

__Game 2: Little Rock 4, SEMO 2__

Game two of the series saw a much closer contest as the Redhawks fell 4-2 a day after falling 8-2.

It was the Trojans starting the scoring once again, this time in the bottom of the third courtesy of a solo home run.

The score stayed 1-0 until the top of the sixth when Ty Stauss drilled a solo home run, his sixth homer of the year, to even the score at 1-1.

A sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth allowed the Trojans to take a 2-1 lead after chasing Sam Heyman, the Redhawks’ game two starter.

Heyman once again gave SEMO a chance to win as he tossed 5.1 innings, allowing just two runs on four hits.

Relieving Heyman was Collin Wilma, who finished the game throwing the final 2.2 innings, allowing two runs on four hits while striking out five.

A pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth for Little Rock extended its lead to 4-1.

In the top of the ninth, with the Redhawks trailing, Bryce Cannon hit a solo home run of his own to make it 4-2.

Despite the solo shot from Cannon, the Redhawks couldn’t muster any more runs in the inning and fell in game two, 4-2.

__Game 3: SEMO 16, Little Rock 3__

Looking to avoid a sweep, the Redhawks’ bats got hot in game three to win ..

It didn’t take SEMO long to take a lead as Ty Stauss singled home Ben Palmer with a one-out hit to give the Redhawks a 1-0 lead in the top of the first.

Cole Warehime followed up Stauss’ single with a single of his own, scoring Michael Mugan and giving the Redhawks a 2-0 lead.

A two-out bases loaded walk to Shea McGahan pushed across another run and the Redhawks held a 3-0 lead after the first inning of play.

Stauss drove in another run in the top of the second with another single to make it 4-0 Redhawks.

The Trojans scratched a run of their own across in the bottom of the second to cut into the lead to make it 4-1 Redhawks after two innings of play.

Both offenses would be held in check until the top of the fifth when Ben Palmer stepped in with the bases loaded and two outs.

Palmer promptly cleared the bases with a triple, extending SEMO’s lead to 7-1.

In the bottom of the fifth, Little Rock responded with a pair of runs, making it 7-3 Redhawks.

Determined to not let the lead slip away, the Redhawks continued scoring in the top of the sixth as Josh Cameron drilled an opposite-field two-run home run to restore the six-run lead.

The scoring didn’t stop there however as McGahan picked up two more RBI with a single to give the Redhawks an 11-3 cushion.

Getting the start in the series finale for the Redhawks was Brian Strange.

Strange gave the Redhawks 5.1 innings pitched, allowing three runs on seven hits while striking out four.

Holding an 11-3 lead, the Redhawks were poised to end the game via run rule.

SEMO pushed across five runs in the seventh courtesy of a RBI double from Josh Cameron, a one-run single from Cole Warehime and a three-run triple from Caleb Corbin put the Redhawks up 16-3.

Relieving Brian Strange was Alex Hayes, who tossed the final 1.2 innings, going perfect while striking out a pair.

SEMO (15-17, 6-3 OVC) returns to action at 6 p.m for a road midweek matchup with the Southern Illinois Salukis in Carbondale, Ill.