Southeast Missouri State baseball team breaks out of slump, tops Stephen F. Austin

Members of the Southeast Missouri State baseball team realized they couldn't take anything for granted if they wanted to return to their winning ways.

The Redhawks hadn't consistently been playing with the focus, effort and intensity that had driven them to the top of the Ohio Valley Conference standings, but somewhere along the way Saturday, all that and some confidence returned.

A big seventh inning and another stellar outing from reliever Adam Pennington resulted in a 15-6 victory over the visiting Lumberjacks to even the series at Capaha Field.

The Redhawks (33-16, 21-6 OVC) also clinched a share of their third consecutive OVC regular-season championship with Jacksonville State's 15-14 walk-off loss to Morehead State.

"We quit talking about things that we could do and showed action and went out and did the things that we know that we can control, and that's just the hustle," Southeast coach Steve Bieser said. "... The best way to get out of those slumps and struggles is to really hustle your way out and that was the focus of the day.

Southeast Missouri State's Trevor Ezell heads for third base on his way to score on a double by Chris Osborne against Stephen F. Austin during the seventh inning Saturday, May 14, 2016 at Capaha Field.Fred Lynch

"Win or lose today, that wasn't the focus. It was playing the game the right way, playing it hard. That includes everything from getting on the field and off the field, backing up bases -- doing all those things, the little things, that you should be doing all the time and sometimes you get away from those when thing start really going your way. The key to the day was we just really talked about really busting it and hustling our tails off."

Tied at 6-all going to the bottom of the seventh inning, the Southeast offense broke out of its slump and broke the game open with a nine-run frame.

Trevor Ezell drew a walk to get things going and scored the go-ahead run on a double by Chris Osborne.

Garrett Gandolfo was intentionally walked with one out and Ryan Rippee, in just his second game back after sitting out a month with a dislocated kneecap, drove home Osborne with a single.

Dan Holst doubled in Gandolfo, and he and Rippee scored when pinch hitter Daniel Costello hit a high chopper over the first baseman to make it 11-6.

Southeast Missouri State's Brian Lees singles against Stephen F. Austin during the third inning Saturday, May 14, 2016 at Capaha Field.Fred Lynch

Brian Lees doubled in Costello before Ezell, who had his hitting streak halted at 18 games, drew his second walk of the inning and third of the game.

Osborne followed with a two-out, two-run double, and Boggetto drove him in with the fifth double of the inning and the final run of the game.

"It was awesome. It's been a while since we had one of those," Holst said. "Earlier in the season, we were clicking together, and it felt like we were doing that every single game. So it was good to see what our lineup can do when we're all clicking."

Southeast trailed 1-0 after one inning and 3-0 after 2 1/2.

The Redhawks capitalized off a couple of throwing errors by starting pitcher Erik Nouis in the home half of the third.

Lees singled and scored on a wild pitch to cut it to 2-1. Osborne bunted and reached when Nouis' throw was high, and Boggetto grounded one back to Nouis, who threw it away at first and allowed Ezell to score and tie it at 2-all. An RBI single by Gandolfo gave Southeast a 3-2 lead.

Southeast Missouri State starter Clay Chandler pitches to a Stephen F. Austin batter during the first inning Saturday, May 14, 2016 at Capaha Field.Fred Lynch

SFA (27-23) answered with four runs in the top of the fourth. Tyler Kendrick, Nick Ramos and Garrett McMullen each had RBI doubles to put the Lumberjacks up 6-3. Starter Clay Chandler exited the game after 3 2/3 innings and 67 pitches. He allowed six earned runs on 10 hits with a walk and four strikeouts.

"I think down this stretch the innings that he's logged so far are getting to him a little bit," Bieser said. "It was going to be by design anyway. He wasn't going too deep into this game. In my mind, 80 pitches was plenty for him today, and he may not have been sharp enough to get to that number. That's why we shut him off early. We wanted to kind of stop the scoring on their end right there, and nobody better than Adam Pennington right now to do that."

Pennington needed one pitch to get the final out of the fourth. He shut out SFA over the next 4 1/3 innings, improving to 4-0 with the win in relief. Pennington has allowed one earned run in his last 21 innings of work.

"Right now it's just the control," Bieser said. "He's throwing his fastball where he wants to throw his fastball. He's able to use his breaking ball. He's able to use his changeup in any count. They're good pitches, so with him being able to spot up those pitches and use them in any count, it makes him really effective."

He scattered three hits, hit one batter and struck out three before exiting with two outs left in the ninth.

"He came in, knew what he needed to do and just dominated their lineup up and down," Lees said. "Just came in with good confidence, pitched with some good conviction and got the job done."

Southeast cut the lead to 6-4 in the bottom of the fourth when Andy Lack doubled in Lees, who went 3-for-4 with three runs and an RBI.

Rippee singled to start the sixth off reliever Cole Ridgley, whose record fell to 2-4 with the loss.

Rippee scored on Holst's triple down the right-field line. A sacrifice fly scored Holst to knot it at 6-6 before the Redhawks' strong seventh.

"One thing that was huge was Penny [Pennington] going out there and giving us three, four zeros in a row and just allowing us to get back into the dugout and keep the energy going with the bats," Holst said.

The series finale between the Redhawks and Lumberjacks is set for 11 a.m. today.

"We've been struggling the last couple games, so it was good to come out and play like we knew we could," Holst said. "I think Coach Bieser woke us up a little bit. He made us realize that we just need to play the game the right way and play it hard, and if you play the game hard and the right way, then whatever happens, happens. And we can live with it as long as we give our best effort."