Southeast baseball team edges Arkansas State, claims 6th straight win

The Southeast Missouri State baseball team collected its sixth consecutive victory with a win over Arkansas State on Wednesday.

A run in the top of the eighth led to a 6-5 win for the Redhawks, who improved to 15-9 overall.

Brendon Neel reached on a error to start the top of the eighth and was moved to third by a sacrifice bunt and fly out before scoring on Clayton Evans' single.

Southeast took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth when Jason Blum walked and later scored on a wild pitch. The Redhawks added a run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Trevor Ezell.

The Red Wolves replied with a run in the bottom of the inning on a home run from leadoff batter Austin Baker, who finished 2 for 5 with two runs scored. They took a 4-2 lead after scoring three times on one hit in the bottom of the sixth with the help of a Southeast error.

The lead was short-lived, however. Southeast scored three times in the top of the seventh on Ezell's two-RBI single and Garrett Gandolfo's RBI single.

ASU knotted the score at 5 in the bottom of the inning before Evans drove home the winning run in the eighth.

Evans was 2 for 2 with a walk and a run scored for Southeast. Gandolfo was the only other Redhawk to finish with multiple hits. He was 2 for 4 with a walk and an RBI.

Ezell, a mainstay in the leadoff spot as a freshman, was 1 for 3 with a walk and three RBIs.

The Redhawks outhit the Red Wolves 8-5 and had one error to ASU's three.

Freshman Matt Wade pitched the final two innings for his second save. He did not allow a hit or a walk and struck out two.

Alex Siddle got the win in relief. He allowed one earned run on two hits in his inning of work.

Jacob Lawrence started for the Redhawks and pitched five innings. He allowed just one run on two hits while striking out four and walking two. He was relieved by Ryan Lenaburg, who did not record an out in the three-run sixth. He walked Zach George to start the inning, and George scored on an error. Lenaburg was relieved by Brady Wright after walking another batter. The inherited runners scored on a fielder's choice and sacrifice fly off Wright.

Kennett High School graduate Adam Grantham started for ASU and also completed five innings. He allowed two runs on three hits and struck out three but did not factor in the decision.

Southeast will open a three-game Ohio Valley Conference series at SIU Edwardsville at 6 p.m. Friday in Edwardsville, Illinois. The teams will play at 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

SIUE is second in the conference standings with an 8-1 OVC record while Southeast is third with a record of 7-2.

Belmont, which already had its conference bye week, sits atop the standings at 5-0.