Smith caps SE sweep of Colonels

RICHMOND, Ky. -- Brandon Smith narrowly missed a no-hitter, but that was about all that went wrong for Southeast Missouri State University baseball Saturday.

Smith's masterful one-hitter in the 2-0 second game capped an Ohio Valley Conference doubleheader sweep of Eastern Kentucky for the Indians, who captured the opener 7-4.

The Indians, who have won seven of their last eight games, improved to 13-11 overall and pushed their first-place OVC record to 4-1. The Colonels fell to 6-20 and 3-5.

Southeast coach Mark Hogan recorded his 600th and 601st career victories, which includes the NCAA Division I, Division II and junior college levels.

Smith (5-1) was virtually untouchable. He was three outs away from a no-hitter when Adam Crowder led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a clean single to right.

But Smith bounced back and finished off the shutout. He struck out five, walked one and hit two batters.

Southeast scored the game's only runs in the third inning as Denver delivered an RBI double and Zach Borowiak had an RBI single.

In the opener, Brad Purcell (4-2) was the winner, allowing nine hits and four runs (two earned) in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out nine and walked four. Andy Davidson earned his first save of the year with 1 1/3 innings of one-hit, scoreless relief.

The Indians took the lead for good in the fourth inning as Eric Hoffman's two-run double broke a 1-1 tie.

Southeast had 18 hits in the two games, three each by Borowiak and Tristen McDonald. Stuckey had a hit in each contest to push his hitting streak to 10 games.