Southeast baseball team extends OVC lead

Offense hasn't been hard to come by for the Southeast Missouri State baseball team this season, and Friday night's game against Eastern Illinois was no exception.

The Redhawks defeated the Panthers 11-7 at Capaha Field to improve to 27-11 overall and 17-3 in the Ohio Valley Conference. Southeast remains in first place in the OVC and has a four game lead on second-place Tennessee Tech.

The top of Southeast's order -- Jason Blum, Dalton Hewitt and Matt Tellor -- combined for 11 of their team's 17 hits.

"The thing that impresses me is the consistency of their work ethic," Southeast coach Steve Bieser said. "Just because we hit the ball well today, guys will still show up early, they'll get extra work in on their own, they're going to continue the process of what coach [assistant coach Dillon] Lawson's preaching every day to our hitters -- they just don't take anything for granted."

Blum went 4 for 4 with four runs after reaching base six times, Hewitt was 5 for 6 with three runs and three RBIs and Tellor was 2 for 3 with a home run, two runs and four RBIs.

"All three of those guys were locked in and they were seeing the ball well," Bieser said. "They were patient to their pitch and that was the biggest thing, and they didn't go outside their zone. They knew they were going to get a pitch to hit and they trusted themselves, and that was the biggest difference.

"I can't remember a ball that those guys swung at. I thought they were very disciplined, especially early in the game they were locked in on their starter [Jake] Johansmeier. They were really seeing him well, and it was good to see those guys really because they set the tone for the entire group tonight."

No. 4 hitter Derek Gibson had a hit and two RBI and No. 5 hitter Andy Lennington went 3 for 4 with two RBI.

"I would have to say that it was probably the fact that it wasn't just one person coming through, it was everybody in the lineup," Blum said. "Whenever you have good pitchers on the mound like Eastern Illinois has, that's a big part of it. Whenever everybody's taking good at-bats, everyone's seeing more pitches so everybody gets to see what that pitcher has, and I think that's what the biggest part of it was."

Johansmeier lasted four innings and allowed four earned runs on eight hits with two walks.

The Redhawks plated a run in the first and two in the third, which tied the game 3-3 after the Panthers scored three in the top of the third.

Southeast starting pitcher Ryan Lenaburg, who pitched 1 1/3 innings in his last outing, made it just 3 2/3 innings on Friday.

He exited after allowing a leadoff walk, a single and hitting a batter in the top of the fourth.

Skylar Cobb entered in relief and gave up a bunt single before getting left fielder Demetre Taylor to ground out to short.

"They have to be able to get past the fourth inning, and that's something that Ryan's had a tough time the last couple outings," Bieser said. "There's some things that he needs to work on and I know he will, and he'll be ready to go the next time he gets an opportunity. But we've got to get our starter deeper in the game, and then we've got to credit the bullpen for doing what they did to keep us where it didn't get out of hand for us and we were able to continue to score and get a cushion ourselves."

Cobb didn't return after falling on his knee attempting to field Taylor's hit. He had to be helped off the field.

"He landed kind of funny on his knee and I think he felt a little something, and I just think it really scared him," Bieser said. "Obviously there was some pain there, but I think we're going to be OK. I can't tell you that for [certain] because it could feel different tomorrow, but after he got checked out, he got iced down, he was walking around the dugout towards the end of the game a lot better than I thought he would be after just watching how it originated. But I think he'll be OK and like I said, he's a tough guy and he's going to figure out a way if anything possible, he's going to figure out a way to continue to pitch this season."

Brady Wright took over on the mound in the fifth inning and retired the first eight batters that he faced. He pitched four innings and allowed two runs, one earned, on three hits with four strikeouts to earn the win and improve to 2-0.

"Brady Wright was the difference in this ballgame, really," Bieser said. "We needed him to come in, and I did not expect him to go four innings. He had, I think, a four-pitch inning, which really made a difference and allowed us to extend him a little bit more inning-wise, not pitch-wise, but inning-wise we were able to extend him a little bit more than I was expecting to get out of him. He just did an outstanding job."

Southeast tied the game in the bottom of the fifth on a home run from Tellor to right center.

The Redhawks plated two runs in the sixth to take a 6-4 lead. Blum was hit by a pitch and Hewitt and Tellor hit back-to-back singles to send him home, and Hewitt scored on a sac fly from Gibson.

"We always talk about approach, we always talk about visualizing pitches before they come and I think that's just the biggest thing," Hewitt said. "Especially when you're on deck -- you get your timing down, you're getting everything down and then when you go up there it's just swinging, really."

The Panthers scored a run in each of the last three innings, but Southeast's four-run seventh and an insurance run in the eighth kept them at bay.

Alex Siddle pitched the ninth and allowed one earned run on a hit with two walks and a strikeout.

EIU's Jaden Widdersheim (2-2) took the loss. The Panthers fell to 11-27 and 5-12 in the OVC.

Southeast will go for the series sweep at 1 p.m. Saturday at Capaha Field with Travis Hayes on the mound.

The Redhawks will hold their third annual "Bark in the Park" with free dog treats provided by Mississippi Mutts.