Southeast Missouri State baseball team clinches share of OVC title, top seed

Southeast Missouri State baseball coach Steve Bieser noticed his players were unusually quiet on their bus ride to Rose Park for their series opener against Belmont on Thursday night.

At the time he was uncertain why there was a difference in his team. He didn't know if it was nerves and self-doubt after being swept in a three-game non-conference series at Indiana State the weekend before or pressure to clinch the Ohio Valley Conference title in its final regular-season series.

But after his team defeated the Bruins 12-0 to claim at least a share of the conference championship and lock up the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye in the OVC tournament, he realized the pregame atmosphere had likely changed because of the Redhawks' focus on accomplishing the task at hand.

"Coming off the tough little stretch that we just had, sometimes you start doubting, and so I told them after the game, 'There's no reason to doubt. You guys are a great team," Bieser said. "To be able to do something that's expected is a lot tougher than something that's unexpected. Being a preseason No. 1 and then being able to go out and show that we can do that with that type of pressure, that means a lot."

Southeast plated the only run it would need in the first inning and handed the Bruins their first shutout loss of the season. Second baseman Jason Blum reached on a one-out infield single in the top of the first and moved up a base on a groundout. He scored when right fielder Dalton Hewitt singled through the left side to make it 1-0, but the Redhawks stranded the bases loaded.

The Redhawks added four runs in the second off starting pitcher Dan Ludwig.

First baseman Ryan Rippee led off the inning with a single to left, and catcher Scott Mitchell drew a four-pitch walk before third baseman Trevor Ezell bunted them to second and third.

Blum then swung and missed on a third strike, but the ball popped out of Belmont catcher Alec Diamond's glove for a passed ball. Blum reached first and Rippee scored to extend the lead to 2-0.

Shortstop Branden Boggetto followed with a double off the wall in center field to score a pair of runs, and Hewitt drove in his second run of the game with a two-out triple to right-center to give the Redhawks a 5-0 advantage after two innings.

"They followed the gameplan to a T," Bieser said. "They understood how Ludwig works on the mound and what you need to do to beat him, and they didn't panic. There was times where he would attack with a fastball, and our team loves to hit the fastball, but they were able to lay off of that and wait until he came in with what they were looking for in that particular at-bat."

Southeast was held scoreless over the next four innings.

Redhawks lefty starter Joey Lucchesi went through the Belmont lineup once without allowing a hit. Leadoff batter Diamond hit a one-out single up the middle in the third inning, and first baseman and No. 3 hitter Matt Beaty singled to left, but both players were stranded.

Lucchesi got into a jam in the fourth inning. He struck out the first batter before third baseman Tyler Walsh singled to right. Walsh was stealing second during left fielder William Dodd's at-bat when Lucchesi threw a wild pitch that allowed him to reach third. He ended up walking Dodd before hitting right fielder Brennan Washington with a pitch to load the bases.

He got shortstop Kyle Conger to strike out swinging for the second out before Diamond hit a chopper over Lucchesi that Blum fielded and stepped on second base to strand the bases loaded.

"Quite honestly, I didn't think Belmont would get shut out all year, and for us to do it that just says something about Joey Lucchesi and what he's been able to do all year long," Bieser said. "Once we got him into that starting rotation, he's just been a guy that's really solid and capable of making really good pitches when he needed to, and that's what he did again tonight. I've seen him throw the ball better than he threw it tonight, but he made the pitches that he had to make when he needed to make them, and that's just a sign of a good pitcher."

Lucchesi pitched eight scoreless innings and allowed the high-scoring Bruins offense, which is second in the country in home runs, just six hits in the game. He walked four and struck out seven as he improved to 7-1 on the season.

He did not give up a hit to Drew Ferguson, Belmont's No. 2 hitter and one of the conference's best hitters, and Beaty, another of the top offensive threats in the OVC went 1 for 4.

"I knew two of their hitters were really good, and I just focused on those two," Lucchesi said about Ferguson and Beaty. "Once I got around those I could maybe have like a little breather and I was able to work through their lineup."

The Redhawks broke their scoreless drought in the top of the seventh inning. Left fielder Hunter Leeper sent a two-out single into center and advanced to third on an error by Walsh at third. Designated hitter Cole Ferguson hit one to third and reached when Walsh's throw was well wide of first base. Rippee then hit a three-run home run to left center to make it 8-0.

Southeast pushed the lead to 12-0 in the eighth on a grand slam by Leeper.

"Until Leeper hit his ball I thought that this was still a real serious ballgame and we've got to still make some good pitches, because once they get rolling they're hard to stop," Bieser said.

Blum and Boggetto hit back-to-back one-out singles to left off reliever Alex Ward before Hewitt took a four-pitch walk to load the bases.

Leeper drove the first pitch he got over the wall in left to clear the bases.

"He had just walked Dalton Hewitt on four pitches and as I was walking up to the plate, I was like, 'I don't know if I should swing at the first pitch or not,' and I got in the box and looked at coach and he said 'Be ready to hit,'" Leeper said. "The pitch was right there and I just hit it. It was what I was looking for."

Brady Wright took over on the mound for Lucchesi in the ninth. He struck out the first two batters he faced before a groundout to short ended the game.

Ludwig (4-5) was tagged with the loss after allowing eight runs, three earned, on 10 hits with two walks and three strikeouts.

Southeast improved to 32-20 and 21-7 in conference with the win, while Belmont dropped to 26-26 and 14-13 in the OVC.

"It's what we've worked for all year," Rippee said about clinching a share of the title. "We want it outright, though. We're trying to get that tomorrow. That's really our goal. But it feels good to at least be co-champs."

Game 2 of the three-game series is set for 5 p.m. today. The Redhawks will win their second consecutive championship outright with one more win or a loss by second-place Morehead State (34-19, 19-9 OVC).

"We know what we need to do is win the series, win at least to clinch it, and to get that first one out of the way I think you can take a deep breath and enjoy it," Bieser said. "But the guys, the fact that they didn't throw a dogpile out there and get all excited out there tells me that their minds are in the right place. They're definitely looking to come here and win it outright on their own and not looking around and trying to get any help. I really appreciated that. I like the fact that that was their mindset -- that they want to go out and make sure that they're not sharing the title with anyone."